Family Ties
by bymak
Summary: What happens when your baby gets stolen and ends up as the expert in Stargate, especially when you are not only an abnormal but Helen Magnus? (Nope, I'm not getting any better with summaries) (If you are re-reading this summary, the issues weren't spotted before. TY ;) )
1. Chapter 1

Okay… so I've been sitting on this one for a while now. As you might or might not know, I do that, and then I must figure out a way to finish it. So, I'm in for it (again). I didn't dare to post it because I feel my English is not too "old British" to write Magnus... but oh well… just bear with me.

This what the intro I had written back then: "Set somewhere in time… starts before Ashley's death but moves along setting it to post season 4 and somewhere around the 7th season of Stargate SG1 moving along till season 9 or so. For technology, sakes let's just pretend that all this occurred in 2013. I made some strange changes as well. So this Sam is 33ish and Magnus; well, is Magnus.. :D."

Should I add a disclaimer? … You know all the usual things about not owning the Registered things is still right.

And finally!

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter One

 **Magnus POV**

It was yet another gray day in what I like to call a 'gray week.' Usually, I can handle gray days; and I can handle standard gray weeks. I just can't deal with such thing occurring today. Therefore, I am hiding. Doors closed, do not disturb sign in place. Alas, here I am, 'the great Helen Magnus, M.D' hiding behind my desk while hoping no one will come looking.

I shall confess the truth: I just can't handle another crisis or confrontation.

Not today.

I must admit the weather outside is perfect to describe my mental state; if someone asked me to define it in one word, it would be: troubled. With a sigh, I do what I do best when I am in such a mood, and sadly that is over think. I'm bound to analyze every bit of my life, stopping at every 'what if' available, and that's plenty. And then, I walk around everything I have done wrong.

I know, having 157 years of age, it should be an extremely long list, and it is, it was. At this point of my life, I only care for the top 3, maybe a top 5.

First and the biggest mistake of all, making that damned sanguine vampiris serum and inject it to me. It gave to me, what it should be the greatest gift and the worse curse. If I hadn't played God with such thing, I wouldn't be here today... I wouldn't know what I know, and I wouldn't have suffered all I already have suffered. Then again, I can only accept I did what I did. I learned to take my curse as it comes, and enjoy the moments when it can be called a gift.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I sigh.

Secondly, I have a tie, my love for John and my arrogance. My love to John gave me a beautiful daughter and lots of head, heart and soul aches which came with motherhood. Well, my arrogance leads me to ask Watson and Tesla for help to create an egg, which some years and nine months later became a beautiful baby, which also lead me to a ton of head, heart and soul aches which come with a stolen child. That's why I called it a tie.

Third in the huge list, is not having a normal life. Don't get me wrong. I love my life. However, sometimes I wonder how an ordinary life could be. Then again, I know I would get bored easily. I wasn't made for a normal life. I was made for my life, with its ups and downs, all sadness and joy. Good for me, I think sarcastically. I remember when I pointed down this list to James once he told me "You'll see; you are a Linchpin." I never knew what he wanted to say with that. Hopefully, I'll never know. He told me, he might explain it to me once he's no longer around, and I can't imagine my life without James.

I can't imagine my life without any of them; we are the five for a reason, I add to myself taking a sip of my wine.

We were the five... Even if I'm sure I can't blame myself for his death, I know I do. I know I shouldn't have let him disappeared on us, no pun intended. But I was drowned in my pain to track him, and when I came around, it was too late, Nigel was already gone. I swirl my glass of wine before toasting to the air and taking another sip.

And that is Ladies and Gentlemen, the top five of Magnus Biggest Regrets.

As if someone cares.

Life has this strange way of twisting one's plans and make them end up in an entirely different way from those we initially made. I remember mine: being a Doctor… 'the first female doctor.' I wanted to be known, respected; I wanted to be someone. I know I fulfilled those, I am a Doctor, I am known, I am respected, and I am someone. Of course, I didn't plan for all of that to come with hiding, and well-knitted net of secrecy and the not so little the fact that I don't exist anywhere.

That's why I only bring myself to this state of despair once a year and only on days like today. Because it doesn't matter how much I like or love my "job" or all the free time I have to be with my daughter or the peace at the end of a day. I just simply don't like when the peacefulness occurs on days like today.

And what's so special about today, you'll say. You'll see, today is my youngest daughter's birthday. And is at the same time, the day she was stolen from me.

 **Ashley's POV**

"You want me to do what!?" Will looks at me in disbelief.

"Dude! I just want you to find out what's wrong with my mom. This is not normal!" I say, pointing to the closed door of my mother study, and specifically to the hotel like 'do not disturb' sign which hangs from her door handle.

"If you want me dead, why don't you just kill me, Ashley?" He whines. He is kind of cute when he is whining. Maybe that's what my mom sees in him?

"She's not going to kill you! She even likes you! You know things others don't. That has to mean something..."

"Why are you so sure she does not just have a headache? Why this bothers you so much?"

"Because!" I know I am giving him puppy's eyes. But it bothers me that she is locked out in her bureau, not even wanting Will's help. I relent, "It's not normal to have a headache every year on the same day!"

"You're keeping track of her headaches? You are weird!" Will chuckles.

"Hey! I'm NOT weird; I am half abnormal thank you very much! And yes, I AM keeping track of her headaches. It's not a complicated thing to do." I huff, "When was the last time she asked not to be disturbed?" He looks at me squinting; he knows I have a point there.

"When she got that conference call?" He tries

"Yes, conference... But then again when she was beaten to death, stabbed, bruised, shot and even when you killed her, she did not lock herself in her office!" He opens his mouth to speak, I raise my hand to stop him, "but now she has A headache, and she is on lockdown?" I am screaming I know, "And you don't find it strange at all? Remember me why do we have you here? Argh, never mind..." I said, waving him off, it's like I always say 'if you want something, do it yourself.'

With a deep breath, I turn around and open the door.

 **Magnus POV**

"Mom?"

Ashley comes in, looking for me. She has a worried face. Damn! And I was starting to think I would make it through unscathed for another year. Or at least, equally hurt compared with the year before.

"Mom, what is it?" Her tone has this edge of concern

"Nothing, darling, I just have a massive headache." I lie

"Bullshit! People don't have a 'massive headache' every year at the same date. You have 'headaches' every December 29 for as long as I remember," I look at her. I bit my lower lip; she has the right to know. I know she's capable of figuring out by herself if she sets her mind to it, she is, after all, my daughter and she has her father's and my intelligence to inherit. "You know you can trust me, mom. I am your daughter. Your only daughter," she whispers coming right next to me

That hits a nerve, and I can't seem to hide the pain in my eyes quick enough from her. Not today. Her eyes go wide. We exchange pleading looks. Mine says don't ask. But hers says 'tell me.'

"Talk to me, mom. I won't tell. Trust me."

That pleading look takes a toll on my heart. That pleading look is so identical to her father's. It is the same pleading look John gave me that night, all those years ago, when Ashley was conceived. And I fell. I close my eyes to get my mind back on track because we are not talking about John now. We are not talking about Ashley. We now are talking about Samantha.

"It was a late night, and I was in my lab studying one recently deceased abnormal. I don't even remember much of that autopsy. I was thinking how much Sarah, one of the many Sanctuary team members at that time, wanted to have a baby but for some reason, she couldn't." I caress her face softly, and noticing that I'm not done talking, she seats herself on the floor in front of me. "This idea crossed my mind, I knew back then I was playing God once again, and that once again, I would end up being punished for it. It happened sometime during the early 50."

 **Early 50's**

She was playing God again. She knew. But she just couldn't stop herself. It was exciting! But, if she wanted to make this right, she was going to need help, and luckily she knew two of the greatest minds and knew she could convince both to help her.

First, she called Watson; she knew if she wanted him to accept the crazy proposal, he had to be the first to know. He told her she was out of her mind, but he agreed to help her. Once he did, she explained that they needed more help, and he smiled. He knew who she was thinking of. So, he waited while she called Tesla. He also knew that if they wanted to make it possible, they would need that crazy bastard.

Of course, having a call from Helen always got Tesla coming to the Sanctuary and leaving behind whatever he was doing at the time. Watson knew the reason; Tesla was in love with Helen, but then again, so was he. For that sole motive, they would always do anything to help her.

They spent the better part of a two years working together, side by side, shoulder to shoulder. It was such an important crusade that Magnus even left her bag and tag days on the hands of her loyal employees. And by the end of the years, they had made it.

Along with an enormous amount of knowledge in the genetics field, the hundreds of patents for the things they had found and learned, they had managed to make a stable egg. Or at least they hoped they did. But technology, even as advanced as they could make it at that time, couldn't tell them if the egg was indeed right. So, after two years of work, she proceeded to freeze the egg and put it to store right next to hers and John's embryo.

 **Present**

 **"** At that moment, everything seemed right with both of you. However, I wasn't in a place where I wanted to have a family. Not yet. I wasn't ready… I know it sounds silly, I was old enough to be a grandmother already, but I considered I wasn't willing to be a mother. Thankfully, technology wasn't advanced enough to make it happen."

"So you got two eggs frozen, one it is me… where is the other one?" I sigh, here comes nothing.

"12 years later with Nigel already dead, Tesla hiding, James in the UK and John missing, I moved to Old City. I was feeling completely alone; the year was 1970."

 **1970**

Helen was amazed by how well the old city sanctuary imitated her father's draws, adding cutting edge technology and a sense of home to her new house. She was living there for almost a month now, but she still couldn't believe she had done it.

She walked to her new lab, the scientists working for the Sanctuary network where geniuses in every area she could imagine and pay for. Most of them wouldn't know they were working with the abnormals of the world. Most of them just were given parts of things, and they would develop syrups, vaccines and advanced technology for the humanity to use. All of them under Dr. Magnus patents. But some of them worked closely, some of them were even abnormals themselves, those were the ones who got to know Helen Magnus, all of them were, in a way or another, saved by her.

Both groups would do anything in their power to do or find whatever Magnus wanted. Even if they tested and tried to make their ideas come to life; hers were the ones that always came to fruition. She would go and say, what if we use this or that abnormality to do this or that for the humanity? And samples were passed, things were developed, and humanity collected the benefit of the unknown source.

Keeping in mind the good predisposition she had from her employees; she was not surprised when she saw her new lab. She started to play with it, and after a couple of days, she asked for a good tech. A 'normal-human' tech arrived two days later, happy to finally get to meet "one of the many Dr. Magnus" that she had to be. She smiled politely and didn't disclose to the tech that she was the ONLY Dr. Magnus, who had existed in the 87 years that had come to pass since her father went missing.

For a whole month, Magnus and the tech worked on something no one knew. After that, Magnus gave the tech a broad smile and a great bonus, and then she sent him back to his place. She knew, from the time working close that he was not ready for the whole Sanctuary experience. A week later, the first inhabitants of Old City started to arrive.

 **Present**

"We worked on the way to introduce fertilized eggs back into a woman's uterus. That's why I have patents for in vitro fertilization, and one of our many 'enterprises' was the first one to make an in vitro baby. But that's a whole different history…" she trailed, "When the tech was out, I ran to my lab and looked at the egg and the embryo. And I decided. Nine months later I gave birth to a beautiful girl."

"Wait, I wasn't born until 1980, so I wasn't me … what happened? How did you choose? Why you didn't pick me?" I smile, she is smart, she is curious… well, she is my daughter.

"Your question is straightforward to answer… or it was simple at that moment." I trail, "you probably would choose the same if you were in my place. The thing is, I had to make a choice between trying to implant an egg made more like a science project or the embryo I conceived with the men I loved the most."

"You went with the science project."

"Yes, and when she started to move, she wasn't a science project anymore, she was my child. The 'younger' child was the first to be born," my eyes are filled with tears once again.

"So I had a younger sister who was older than me? That's so awesome!" I smile, Ashley always gets the bright side first. I left out the breath I was holding, and with it I said

"You probably still have a younger sister older than you," her expressive eyes show some gleam of hope, maybe curiosity?

"So, where is she? When do I get to meet her?" She says, biting her lower lip. And with that, the last resistance I have breaks, I gasp, and my tears follow. I know I usually don't cry. However, I can't stop myself now. In an attempt of comforting me, Ashley stands and hugs me and caresses my hair. I know she is utterly uncomfortable, she doesn't like the girly parts of the life, but she doesn't withhold. When finally, I get calm enough to talk I answer her with the truth

"I don't know... At that time security around the sanctuary wasn't as good as now, and I wasn't prepared when your father appeared. Nor I expected the rage that he felt, " I still can feel his cold black eyes looking straight into mine and his cold lips stealing a kiss I didn't want to share.

 **1970**

For the first time in 90 years, she had put a tree in the sanctuary hall, and she felt in the mood for a Christmas celebration. Helen considered she looked like a human version of a whale, even when all the normal and abnormals living at the sanctuary told her that she glowed. She accepted the compliments, even if she didn't believe them. The thing which mattered was that looking like a whale, she was happy. For the first time in a very long time, Helen Magnus was happy.

Four days later, her water broke. She was anxious to meet her daughter.

She was meeting her child for the first time. She cursed in all the languages she knew, she almost broke James hand in the process, and she had blushed when she admitted to herself that she had bitten her old friend in the hand when he tried to calm her down. Then, after almost 12 hours of labor, she smiled. And the baby cried. And everything else was forgotten.

The baby took after her. Apparently, she was blond and had the bluest eyes; she had never seen, she felt more in love in that space of the second than in all her life. Then the nurses came and took the baby to clean her up. After a few more minutes, she got to hold her beautiful daughter.

"My dear Helen, how shall we call your little miracle?" James smiled, he never believed he would see Magnus that much in love again. And he always knew one day she would be an excellent mother, and the day had arrived. She smiled that big, beautiful smile that could brighten any room.

"She is beautiful. I can't think of a better name for her than Samantha." She told him after contemplating the space for a while. He smiled softly.

"Hi Sammie, welcome to this crazy world of ours, you should know you are quite a miracle. Your mom and all your strange uncles and aunties will love you too much, and we will spoil you rotten," James whispered making Helen huff.

Biggie smiled and came near the baby; then he told Magnus that Sammie was indeed beautiful and that he only hoped Tesla help in her creation didn't end up doing anything wrong with Sammie. They all laughed. But a DNA check was made, just to be sure. Then, Magnus was sent to her room and so was the baby.

Helen was at that weird point where you are not awake but not quite asleep when she felt something odd, and her instincts were right. Next to Samantha's crib was John…. Or rather Jack.

His eyes were glowing; it was the first time in almost 80 years that she saw him. Her face went blank, and she did the only thing she could do.

She screamed.

He smiled.

It was a sickening smile. Then, he took Sammie in his arms and teleported next to Helen.

"You could have let me know," he said, caressing Helen's cheek. "She is after all my baby too. Aren't you cute little…"

"Samantha is not your daughter!" Helen hissed

"Don't be silly Helen. I know you enough to know you would never trust another man to be with in the same way you were with me. So, this little bundle of joy can only be mine. Did you hear that Samantha? Your mommy is trying to lie to your daddy. But your father loves you already, and will find you a life worth living."

The door opened at that moment; it was Biggie followed up by Watson and several staff members. Looking straight into her eyes, John laughed a laugh that Magnus would never get to forget.

"As this new generation says: 'Payback is a bitch' Helen dear," with that John kissed her and disappeared into the air.

Magnus asked or rather yelled everybody to leave. She needed to cry her heart out. Because she knew, at that moment, she would never get to see her Samantha again.

 **Present**

"So you allowed him to take her?" She sounds surprised. I shrug.

"There was nothing I could do at that moment. Even with the current high tech security, I still wouldn't be able to do anything more than allowing him to take her."

"What about a fight? Did you at least search for her?"

"With your father?" I snap at her. It is the rage which comes from the impotence I felt that day. I control my tone before continuing, "He disappeared to never come back until months ago. He doesn't remember that day. And yes, I have searched for her ever since. I've pulled every single string… but just like you and me, Samantha Magnus didn't exist in the outside world, and no matter how hard you try, you can't find something that doesn't exist."

At that moment, neither one of them suspected that only a few months later Helen Magnus would lose another daughter.

 **Jack's POV**

She is hiding, I know. I know her too well to believe she's just working. I know how much she hates her birthday. How much she hates the feeling of getting old and how that is reason enough to put herself in a full work mode. She even wanted to go on a mission on her birthday, just to avoid people and to take away their chance to say those "darn words." She is special, I know.

Approaching to her lab carefully, (Yes, I care about my well being enough to go in there without assessing the situation first). She seems calm, she seems… hmm… not annoyed. I dare to go in and stand inside of her lab just to watch her. It always amazed me, her ability to do all sorts of things, her fighting skills, her mind, the solutions she always seems to have. But overall, I'm always amazed for those striking blue eyes and that beautiful smile of hers. Well, who I am kidding I am pathetically in love with her, but it can't be.

Apparently, I stared too much because she stopped whatever she was doing and turned to stare at me. She lets out a small smile, the one I know she reserves for me. O rather to me when she catches me almost drooling on her.

"Sir? You need something?" She says

"Carter! No, nothing... I just came to see if you need something, coffee? A break?"

"Please tell me that, if I agree to go grab a cup of coffee, I won't end up in a surprise party?" she inquires with a bit of disgust in her voice.

"Nah, I was offering to go and grab something outside, before they sent Danny here to find you and drag you to the surprise party."

"Why they keep doing that?" She asks with a sigh.

"Because they love you and want the best for you, they just don't get to know you well enough to know you're not a party girl," I grin, "I recruited Janet to come with us, you know? Just to be on the safe side. She's waiting for us topside. And Carter, some day you will have to explain to someone why you hate your birthday this much."

"I,.." she sighs, her blue eyes catch mine, and I can see so much pain in there, "my parents always told everyone that was dumb to have a birthday party just four days after Christmas and two before New Year's Eve. And I don't like the sensation of getting older. I feel like…" she bit her lower lip, "I feel like my life is escaping out of my hands and I can't do anything to stop it. Do you get it?" She says to me, with that gleam in her eyes that begs me to say yes.

I nod.

I don't get it. I am older than her, and to me, she looks exactly the same way she looked seven years ago when we first met. Maybe, is a girl thing?


	2. Chapter 2

**(I have written 11 chapters; they will be up somewhat fast... )**

 **Enjoy!**

 **M.**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Almost a year later**

 **Daniel's POV**

SG1 was coming from another 'recon' mission. As per usual, we got in some trouble. Jack had many bruises and cuts and maybe and what looks like a dislocated ankle. Teal'c and l have cuts and scrapes as normal because Teal'c is just Teal'c and I know that, after being ascended or killed more times that I will like to count, every member of my team, or any team, is always covering me. Sam along with the bruises and cuts, found herself doing a weird maneuver to put her shoulder back into place in the middle of the withdrawal fight, I heard the crack when it went out, and it hurt me. And I listened to the crack when she put it back, and I almost cried, I squealed like a little girl. But now, she just needs an x-ray, some painkillers, and rest, according to Janet. And here we were talking and loudly laughing waiting for Janet to call us back inside when an even louder "son of a bitch!" got to our ears followed closely by a loud knock.

"Was that Janet?" I asked as we ran or limped our way to the infirmary. None of us had weapons anymore, so we relied on the surprise factor, when don't we? Jack and Sam exchanged some signals, Teal'c nodded, and I huffed when I understood they had said something like 'I go this way, you go that way, Teal'c covers Sam, and you wait.' I huff.

After not long, Sam called me. Safe from two nurses, the infirmary was empty. I asked to one of the nurses if Janet was alone in her office and when she nodded yes, we rushed to her room. Just in time to see Janet swearing hard to her phone before hanging it with an angry thump. Sam got to where Janet was standing and kindly asked

"Hey, Janet... what's wrong?" Janet looked at her chewing her lower lip.

"I just hate that son of a bitch! I can believe it! Every time! Every time it's the same, no matter what we do …"

"Janet," I start, but I have no slightest idea of what she is talking about, "eh, we don't seem to be able to follow your line of thoughts, care to explain from the beginning?" I smile at her. She nods and ushers us out, and when we are in the position she needs us, she starts to check Sam first and talk at the same time.

"Well, Sam, do you remember those patents you presented and were rejected?" Sam nods, I remember Sam bitching around for a rejected patent, it wasn't nice. I, for one, didn't know Sam knew that many languages or how … colorful… they were.

"Well, I just got a call from them, I went to put a patent on the last retroviral we managed to isolate from that strange animal SG13 brought from KJE924 and guess what?"

"Rejected?" Sam asks

"Yes! I already lost count of the amount of stuff everybody here tried to patent and got rejected because someone else already had it."

"So, you are saying someone has access to our research? We probably have a security breach; maybe someone is stealing our data," Jack said. That doesn't sound right.

"Yes, that was exactly what I thought, so I called some favors in and got the actual data from those patents… if they were stolen from here, then the date should be closer to when we presented, a few days earlier or something, however, the papers," she trails. "Every time, it's the same structure or the same component or whatever; it is just the same, but... They all are older than our research, and by older I mean, a couple of years if not decades."

"How can that be possible? No one has access to the Stargate, and many of the components are not available on Earth." Sam adds frowning.

"Yes, and it gets even more strange. I asked about some of more and hear this, all of them, and I mean all. Meds, technology, genetics, you name it! They all have the same name attached to it, they all belong to the same son of a bitch. Or at least, to the same family…"

"Sooo…. Who is this son of a bitch?" Jack asks.

"All the patents are a property of a Dr. Magnus," did she just say, Dr. Magnus?

"Dr. Magnus? I heard about a Dr. Magnus, who was a friend of Pasteur or something when I was doing some research years ago," Sam says, please tell me it wasn't Dr. Magnus…

"Yes, I found him too." Janet acknowledges. "Dr. Gregory Magnus, and I believe his daughter, formally known as Dr. Magnus was the first woman to attend med school in Oxford at some point during the 1800's. Even being the first female to attend med school as a girl, her name was wiped out. I kept digging, and I found out a Dr. Magnus helped during WWII, but no name or gender and a Dr. Magnus has improved some weapon technology over the years too. They are many 'Dr. Magnus' all along history, but no name or gender is listed anywhere. I think we are talking about a name which goes from generation to generation. But I definitively hate this Dr. Magnus guy."

"James Bond much?"

"Are you sure?" I ask trying not to look disappointed or something. Janet lifts an eyebrow; scary! She is passing way too much time with Teal'c.

"Why?" She says with that tone

"I mean, how do you know all that?"

"Well, it's not the first time I came across the name, so I did some research. But that's not it," she squints looking at me.

"Erh… I ..." Spill it out, carefully, I think to myself. "I got a letter two days ago. It has a beautiful handwriting on it; I'll say Victorian imitation, not a very good one though. The cursive at the Victorian time was more..." yup, that's it! Confuse the hell out of them! Perfect tactic!

"To the point, Danny Boy!"

"Well, I got this letter and hum, it was an invitation for a lecture to be held in Prague. With it, came tickets from Colorado to New York, and a note which says," I remember then that I have the note with me because I wanted to analyze the possibility if we had time in our busy schedule. "Here it is!" I say when I find it.

" _Dr. Jackson,_

 _I have spent years trying to invite you to one of my lectures. Now, I'm certain you are (almost) available for the next conference, it will be held in the upcoming weeks. Besides the invitation mentioned above, I'm sending to you the data you will need to claim your ticket from Colorado Springs Airport to New York City JFK on the counter. At JFK, someone will be waiting for you to take you to one of my private jets, which will get you to this year's destination, the city of Prague. From there, a limo will take you to the hotel where you will be staying. Of course, all of this will only occur if you happen to accept my heartfelt invitation._

 _It will be quite an honor if you join us into this lecture. If your answer is yes, then you only should be on time for the Colorado Springs to New York flight._

 _Kind regards,_

 _Magnus_

 _PS: Feel free to bring a friend. Two tickets will be expecting you at the Colorado Springs Airport."_

"A lecture? Why would someone apparently attached to sciences want to invite an archeologist to a lecture?" Janet says somewhat befuddled

"Well, the conference is called 'Ancient Egypt, from Pharaohs to Gods and, to nothing at all' and the lecturer is a Dr. Magnus, I was considering going," I say as fast as I can

"You're kidding, right? Are you considering? You just got yourself a free of cost travel to Prague! There's nothing to think about!" Janet says, and now I am sure I have lost some part of the conversation

"Uh, weren't you the one mad at this Magnus guy?"

"Yes, but a possibility to know who the hell is he, and figure out how the hell they got so many patents. And it is Prague for free too."

"You know what? Janet, you should go with Daniel and that way we all get an excuse to go to Prague. And I do believe we can make some arranges for Cassie so that she can stay here," I think that is not the best idea but, if they agree with me going, I am not the one to complain.

 **Two weeks later**

 **Colorado Springs Airport**

 **"** Good morning, I have tickets for me and my friend?" I ask the lady at the counter

"Can I have your papers?" She asks me and waits until I handle to her my passport. She typed away something and then smiles

"Dr. Daniel Jackson, we have your tickets. Two, and as you have a friend coming, we need the papers to fill in that data," Janet smiles next to me and handles her passport to the woman.

"Great, thank you. I always envied the employees of Magnus; you always get the best of the best. I have a friend," she lowered her voice, "she is a stewardess in one of the planes, and is always telling me that with Magnus is all V.I.P all the way," she says with a conspiratorial smile.

"Here you go, the first-class lounge is at the end of the security check. As usual, you have super elite privileges. As you may already know, it means you have your line at the security check, and you are first on board. Have a nice flight!" I just nod, I don't know if it is too much information to process, or if I'm just sleepy.

"Wow! I guess that Magnus knows how to treat guests," Janet says

 **UK sanctuary**

Magnus was sitting at her bureau in the UK Sanctuary, she loved and respected privacy too much, Therefore, every time she had built a Sanctuary, she made sure of having an office of her own; that way she would never force the head of the house out of their desks. She was smiling at the peace of not being the head of the house brought when her conference software started to beep. It was Henry.

"Hey, boss! You were right. I recently received confirmation on the Dr. Daniel Jackson ticket plus one," Henry said just when he appeared on her screen

"That's fantastic; do we have a name for his companion?" Magnus asked

"Hmm, yes. Janet Fraiser. Give me a sec here Doc… well, Doctor Janet Fraiser. She got her medical degree using an Air Force scholarship. Divorced. One kid, Cassandra Frasier, adopted not too many years ago. She is now serving as Command Medical Officer at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. You should be getting her file in any second now."

"Thanks, Henry. Can you book her some tours and sightseeing trips and book some options for Dr. Jackson as well considering the time of the lecture. Then make those options available for when they get registered at the hotel."

"Ok," Henry said typing fast on one of his many computers at Old City Sanctuary "Ahm... Doc?"

"Yes?"

"Do you remember the warning about someone asking 'bout all your patents and going through every college asking 'bout a Dr. Magnus?"

"Well, yes, that's hardly forgettable. Why?"

"Well," He said sending images to Magnus, "the first one is from the video of the woman asking for info about you. And at the second one is; well, that's Dr. Janet Fraiser. "

"Oh, this should get interesting then. Thanks, Henry."

"Not a problem boss."

 **JFK Airport, New York.**

We just landed; there is still some time to kill inside while we wait for the doors to open. But as soon as the door opens, a man steps in and gives a paper to the flight attendant in charge. She reads the paper and points our direction. He smiles and winks at the girl and comes closer

"Dr. Frasier, Dr. Jackson. Do you have any carry-ons with you?" He says, and we both nod "where?" We point to the compartment above our heads. "Great, do we need to pick any suitcase?"

"No, just carry-ons... We are used to traveling light I guess," I start to ramble. The guy gives us a reassuring smile.

"Great, so if you follow me," he says taking both carry-ons and starting to walk down the aisle and out of the plane.

"Ahm, who are you? " I ask before noting that the aircraft door closes behind us and that we are actually in the middle of the ramp close to one hangar and not in the midst of one of the JFK terminals as we are supposed to.

"I am Henry Foss; everybody calls me Henry, or Hank, or Wolf…." He cleared his throat, "Magnus sent me to pick you up and keep you accompanied until we get to our final destination."

"Where are we going?"

"What do you mean? I thought you knew we are going to Prague," he says frowning, "Oh… you mean now! Duh, we are going to Magnus JFK hangar."

"Hangar?"

"Yes, you know one of those things where your planes go and sit until you need them," I sigh, at least I am used to those kinds of responses. I see him rolling his eyes before he continues rambling, "I thought you already knew we are traveling on one of our private jets. And by ours, I mean Magnus'. Hey, Phil, these are Dr. Jackson and Dr. Frasier. Magnus is waiting for them." Phil is, I presume, our customs guy. "If he approves we get out."

"Hi Guys, Henry… dude! Long time not seeing you! Rumor has it that you went HAP already. So, why is Magnus waiting for these folks for?" Phil said, checking documents

"Well, Dr. Jackson is going to sit on Magnus Archaeological lecture. They are not from within the network." Henry chuckles

"Oh, so it will be best if I shut up then," Phil winks to Henry, "Hopefully Magnus would get to do this year's lecture, I heard it didn't happen last time. You're ready, folks, have a nice trip. And Henry, please tell Magnus I've said hello."

"Will do!" Am I the only one surprised by the fact that the customs guy only slowly observed our carry-ons? Apparently yes, because Janet doesn't say a thing and Henry seems not troubled.

Then I see the reason why Janet was so silent; the plane is huge and looks stunning. According to the safety guide, it is a Bombardier BD-700, but it seems like nothing I have seen before. It surely was made for wealthy people. As we look around in awe, Henry made his way in as if traveling like this is just the normal thing to do. Come to think about; it probably is for him.

I'm lost looking the details of the plane, but I don't lose sight of Henry, who's just pressing some buttons and then stocking our carry-ons in some hidden compartment I probably wouldn't be able to find.

"We have anything you like to drink, a huge variety of things to eat. One of the stewardesses will come soon to let you know from what you can choose. This plane has notebooks for every seat, and they are right here," he said, signaling a couple of buttons in the armrest. "Just press that button for it to pop up. There you will find a great number of movies that no one in the network watches, great games and of course internet connection. Then at the back, you have a bookshelf with all of the classics."

"Well, certainly your boss knows how to travel with style," Janet says, speaking for the first time in a long while

"Magnus likes to treat people with the best money can offer, " Henry said shrugging.

"So, he sounds like a great boss and nice person." I might as well try to pry some information from him

"Well, I won't lie about it, the Doc is something different." With that, Henry put ear plugs and says, "Boss, we are on our way… _"._ I kept silent, trying to gain some information, but all that I get is Henry's part of the conversation "Well, I guess, is not the first-time people believe that." What could they be talking about? He said he was the tech guy. "And nothing really, what should I tell? Ok, ah! Phil said hello," he smiles to his screen and then he is looking at me. I look guilty I know

"I don't get it, why someone with so much money would search for an archeologist just for him to hear something?" I ask. I'm puzzled about that fact.

"Like a told you, Magnus is something different. Probably you are something special, published something or hinted something and that put you in the Sanctuary radar. But what did you do to impress the boss, I wouldn't know, I'm a simple tech guy."

"What did Phil meant when he said 'Hopefully Magnus would get to do this year lecture'?"

"Well, last three or four times the Doc was about to start or started already and all of the sudden something that needed the boss' expertise appeared, so the lecturer replacement had to take charge of the lecture."

 **Two Hours Later**

 ** _Henry's POV_**

I was doing a full system check out of the defenses at Old City Sanctuary plus upgrading the defenses of all sanctuaries in North America when my conference phone rang. I connected my ear plugs before clicking on the call and seconds later Helen Magnus was on my screen. I couldn't help but smile

"Hey, boss! What's up?" I say, almost whispering

" _Anything unusual going on there?"_ She says, I know I worried her by whispering, so I rush to say

 _"_ Nope, they are sleeping right now. I'm doing a security check up for Home and upgrading all North America with the latest security changes. Next, I will do Europe and so on 'till I get everyone with the best."

" _And when do you think you will be sleeping?_ " She says, smiling; I smile back, by the gleam in her eyes, I know it was a rhetorical question. " _Anyways, I just call to check you and see if you needed something. We are leaving the UK within the hour. No, I am not piloting, Will said he would walk to Prague if I were flying the plane. We'll be there soon. Did they realize you are traveling at twice of the normal flight speed?"_

 _"_ No, that adjustment Tesla did last time is still working. "

" _Of course it is working, my dear Heinrich, I did it remember? Genius vampire,"_ Tesla says in the background, Magnus rolls her eyes. I growl, God, I hate the guy

" _I am expecting all of you to behave." She berates Will and Nikola_

 _"Why did you call him again Magnus?"_ Will whines

" _Genius Vampire; do I need more explanation? What are you doing here, Concubine?"_

 _"Enough! All 3 of you, I don't want to hear anything else related to why are you here; the answer is 'because I've said so.' Now, Henry I guess you will be on time or earlier. You can already discuss the plans you made for them with them, and book and pay whatever they choose when they raise up. We'll see you at the hotel. According to your current position, it will be another hour before landing. And if our plane schedule is accurate will be there a quarter or half an hour before you."_

 **Prague**

 **Magnus POV**

 **"** Why did you choose Prague, Magnus? It's not that I am complaining, but why no Paris or just London." Will asks

"Oh Helen, I thought your protege knew you better," Tesla smirks; I can help but roll my eyes. They act like kids every time. Then Tesla smiles "In second thoughts why not Vienna, it is after all springtime." Oh! I should have known that was coming.

"First of all; Nikola, stop the protege thing, the nickname doesn't bother Will, and only makes you look jealous."

"Touche, my dear," he says, winking at me, Will turns a little pink

"And to answer your question Will, I just always loved Prague at this time of the year. I remember the first time we visited the city; we were looking for an abnormal who ran away from the London Sanctuary."

"Oh! I remember the look on people's faces when they saw you surrounded by us. You'll think they never saw a woman with four men before. How old were you 29?" I laugh at the memory; I was probably declared insane or heretic by the people at that time.

"I just turned 30, it was our first crusade as 'The Five' and I was planning on making this in Rome, but someone took the Cabal down there. Now, I cannot use the Convention Center I love the most just in case someone managed to escape John's anger. " I said, Will, observes the exchange I know he knows I am hiding something. He always does, and I am always hiding something. Thankfully, the car finally came to a stop in front of the Hotel Mandarin Oriental.

I walk to the counter where a woman is on the phone. I smiled to her one of those smiles which say 'what about you end up your boyfriend call and do your job?', but apparently, my smile doesn't talk the same language because she just smiles too. Will and Nikola stop right next to me. Then I can see a man coming in a hurry. Dear God!

"Dr. Magnus! You are finally here!" The man says with a thick accent, and I make my best effort not to roll my eyes, "I made my personal task to provide you with anything you need. If I may say so, you look incredibly young just like the last time I saw you six years ago, what was it? Botox? Surgery," I have to suppress a laugh at his words, managing to smile instead. Nikola and Will raised their eyebrows they seem surprised by the bold man. "I'm sorry I don't mean to pry... but whatever you did, you look spectacular! So, six rooms?" Well, if I didn't know the man I will be surprised too.

"Just three right now Mr. Borcky, Mr. Foss will be joining us later with the other two guesses. It would be Tesla, Zimmerman and my room for now." He goes behind the counter and grabs some magnetic keys and escorts us to the floor of the suites. All the way up trying to get my "secret of youth." Will and Nikola were cracking up without the courtesy of the guy polite insistence. I should just say to him, 'the secret is pure blood, you should try.' But then again, I would probably get banned from this hotel

"Oh, Mr. Borcky. You should see her without makeup. Then you will want to know her secret. She just looks like 25 years old!" Tesla says with a smile, I elbow him in the stomach and pin him down with a deathly glare, and Mr. Borkcy turned, and for the first time he checked up on the other guests, raising an eyebrow

"Mr. Tesla, is it?" He nods. "You have a remarkable similarity with the Tesla who claimed Edison stole his work." Will and I can't avoid laughing at Tesla expression

"Well, he IS … related to that guy," Will added. Tesla gave him a deadly glare. Points to Will it think, biting my lower lip, so not to smile

"Well, this is your floor, Dr. Magnus. The conference room is available if you need to use it. Good Night, if you need something just let me know."

"Thanks, Mr. Borcky, you were most helpful," I just can't help to think 'finally.'

 **SGC**

"Sir, we got confirmation from Daniel, they are on their way, and he passed us the details of the Hotel. I booked three rooms in a hotel in the near area."

"Why didn't you book us at the same hotel?" The Colonel asks.

"Price rates, Sir. The Hotel where they are staying is a five stars hotel; according to their website the cheapest room is 300 euros at day. Our budget for this mission goes to the trash at night one, sir. So, I booked for us one that is near enough to this hotel and the conference room mentioned in the invitation. "

"Remember me why are you going to Prague again?" General Hammond asked preoccupied.

"Because the level of technology we found in the patents Dr. Magnus held is similar to the degree of technology the Goa'uld have. And they look pretty similar to the investigations we conducted, this way we can discard the fact that he can be a Goa'uld or someone stealing information and according to the Colonel, we shouldn't leave Daniel out of sight for too much time," Sam explains once more.

"Ok then SG1, go change into your civvies, and you have a go. When you are ready, give Prometheus the sign, so they beam you off. I hope the guy isn't a Goa'uld. I don't know if we can manage to chase a millionaire Goa'uld around without causing a media frenzy."


	3. Chapter 3

Hi there, I have no idea from where the no make up part comes from, but it was there. And it's here now.

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter 3**

 **Prague**

 **Next Day**

"Magnus?" Nikola stormed into her room, but she wasn't there. "Well, well... someone got up earlier." He smirked, then he took Helen's room phone and dialed Henry's room. "Heinrich? Didn't I tell you to let me know if Magnus was going out? "

 _"What? I'm watching today's feed. She never left her room."_

"Well, she is not in her room. Never mind! I will find her. I, after all, know Prague," He said smiling, "And I know Helen Magnus."

Helen was sitting down in one café, drinking tea with some locally made pastries. She looked just like any young tourist that day, and nothing like her usual elitist self. She smiled, remembering what she did that morning to have a few minutes to herself.

It was early that morning; the sun was rising. She felt content, and she looked herself in the mirror and for the first time, and only God knows how long, she smiled. She was used to seeing this face and then cover it up with a thick makeup to look older than she really was. Well, older than she appeared to be at least. But today she felt like walking around without any makeup on her; she wanted to feel as carefree as her face seemed when you didn't look straight into her eyes.

That morning, instead of her ritual of making herself look older. She decided to put on a pair of jeans, a tank top and a black jacket with a hood (yes, she got such kind of clothes. They were comfy). She knew Henry was in control of their floor cameras, so she went straight to her balcony, put the hood on and then climbed on top of the balcony and with no effort, she jumped down to the balcony on the previous floor. She picked the lock on the balcony door and crawled inside to go finally outside.

She enjoyed the sounds, smells, and colors she was currently admiring. She knew there was no much time before someone could come and get her. She breathed in deeply and with closed eyes. He was there already.

"Nikola, " she said without turning. She knew he would be the first to go looking for her.

"My, my... If I didn't know better I would say that you are 25 years old all over again" She rolled her eyes.

"Tea, Nikola? We have almost 20 minutes before Will wakes up. Hopefully, Henry didn't wake him up when you called him."

"I did not call Heinrich, but you need to tell me how did you manage to escape that room, My dear. We are on the top floor," she smiled, Nikola kissed her briefly. "Sorry, you look so ... you! I couldn't stop myself."

"Teal'c, it is just me; or a complete stranger just kissed Carter?"

"Indeed," Teal'c said. They were still watching them expecting Carter t signal for them to come or something. But then after ten or fifteen minutes, the 'couple' started to walk in their direction, and they noted that the girl wasn't Carter. Her hoodie was down, and it showed a cascade of brown curls in the head of a dead ringer for Sam. Jack let out the breath he was holding. Both men went silent as the couple passed next to the car they had rented to follow Daniel.

 _"So Nikola; how did you find me?"_

 _"Well, for one I happen to know Prague, and you. Two, your scent is unique; you can confirm that with Henrich. And third, never mind your clothes, you can have a potato bag and still would be a shining star in a crowd. It's not a compliment I swear, but you have a kind of class which makes you stand out."_

 _"Nikola, you are such a ..."_

"Hey, guys!" Sam said, opening the door, both men jumped so high that knocked their heads with the car ceiling. "You're okay?" They nodded, "I brought you coffee and some pastries. You wouldn't believe the line the shop had; I never knew so many people who got up this early and why are you looking at me like that? "

"Carter, can you do a British accent?"

"Nope. Why?"

"Mayor Carter, do you have a sister?"

"No, I just have a brother. Why?" Teal'c and O'Neill exchanged a look. "Can someone tell me what's going on? I am somehow getting scared here."

"We just saw you with a guy. You had brown hair though, and a thick British accent. "

"Well, people often say that everybody has a double somewhere, maybe mine is here," she dismissed easily with a smile handing them their coffees. "Or maybe, you both need breakfast."

 **Magnus POV**

I entered my room with Nikola hot in my heels. I was about to go into the actual room when I suddenly knew it was time, I stopped in the living room and asked Nikola to call Henry and Will.

"Why?" He asked me

"The last time Henry saw me without makeup was when he was eight and Will… I believe he is ready now."

Nikola huffed something that I've pretended not to hear, however, five minutes later there was a knock on my door. Nikola went to open, and I propped myself in front of the window with my back to the door, still dressed as before.

"Come on in and please, take a seat," I said waiting to hear them sitting before continuing.

"Well, our Magnus here wants to let you know one of her many secrets. With this, you will join a not so large group of people. It already includes Henry, but according to Magnus he probably doesn't remember," Nikola says

"Will," I start, "Remember once, you asked me why, if I looked younger than I am, covered myself with makeup?"

"Yes, you shrugged and didn't answer. Then I went and asked Ashley the same. She told me "dude! You killed her, but you haven't seen her without makeup?".

Yes, that sounds like something Ashley might have said. I smile at him despite the memories, but I can't keep them walking on egg shelves every time she is mentioned.

"I asked her how she knew I didn't saw you without makeup. And she told me that if I saw you without makeup on, I would know why you used it. Why?"

"Because, when I made serum and injected it into my bloodstream, I wasn't in my 30's, I was 25." I turn to face them. Nikola has this huge grin. I can see Will mind processing the new data; I know this 'revelation' will help him to understand me better. "At the beginning, we agreed I was the only one who would try with my serum, and if it didn't kill me, they would inject themselves too."

"What?" Nikola asked, raising his eyebrow. "If we didn't agree with her, she would do it anyway, and there wouldn't be anyone by her side. Anyways, I injected her with the serum, and we stood by her side during two endless days. We could see she was in pain, and that something was happening to her. But at the end of those two days, nothing happened. We were… disappointed. She was more disappointed than any of us. Giving the results, we forgot about it and put the blood and the written formula in one safe. And for the first time in a very long time, we parted ways," Tesla finished dramatically.

"At the beginning, I didn't notice the change or the lack of it. I didn't stand in front of the mirror for too long. Then five years later, we met again at a party, and they saw what I failed to see. They noticed I hadn't aged when they all did. Some days after that party the five met again. And we supported each other while every one of us went through the change."

"We came with an idea which would allow her lack of change to go unnoticed. So, from that day, she started to practice and painted herself in the exact opposite way of all the other women. When all the women around the globe use it to look younger…"

"I use make-up to make me look older..."

"Why?" He asks it can see he has troubles believing this.

"Because the day they discovered I wasn't aging, I understood why people were afraid of being treated by me. I didn't look old enough. Therefore, they didn't trust in me like an experimented doctor. People on the few sanctuaries didn't believe in me because I was 'too young.' Would you accept working for someone who looks the way I look not knowing I was plus a hundred years old?"

After a few moments of pondering over what I've just said, he answered

"Probably not," I left out the breath I was holding

"Well, that's the cause. And now; you already killed me once, because I asked you, I don't think you of all people, would doubt of me because I don't look 'older,'" Will shook his head. "Well, that said I will be out of my room in twenty, and we can go have some breakfast."

"Doc?," Henry said before I reach to my room's door, "How did you manage?" I can help but smile because I know he is referring to how I got out of the suite.

"Oh, I tell you how she did it," Nikola said. "Go, Helen, I'll keep the kids entertained."

I pick a feminine gray suit complete with a vest, a nice pair of Manolo Blahniks and I once again age with makeup. Less than twenty minutes later, I emerge from my room looking as my regular self.

"Are we ready?" I asked, giving my hair one last touch. The three men turned and looked at me with smiles on their faces; they nodded, and we start our way down.

"My Dear Helen, are you pregnant?" Nikola asks. Henry and Will went white with that bold question. I chuckle

"Oh Nikola, what gave you that idea? No, I'm not pregnant, thank you very much."

"Well, there's something different with you, you are positively glowing, My Dear... I just wanted to be sure. But I guess that two were more than enough," I shot him a death glare, he knows about Samantha, and he knows no one else knows. "I remember James boring me to death with details about Henry and Ashley being a handful... I think those two were more than enough for at least another hundred years…"

"Do you ever shut up, Vlad?. Doc, where are we going? I'm starving!"

"We are walking down to Prague Sanctuary. It is a beautiful place," I say, I like what we did there, but this hotel is far better.

"How come we do not stay there then?" Will asks.

"I don't think you would like the catacombs."

"Oh, I adore Prague Sanctuary. It is lovely," Nikola smirks. He turns a little, and he shook his head, I think I heard him say, "Nah, impossible... it couldn't be…"

A group of three men and a woman passed talking right next to the car where Jack, Teal'c, and Sam were waiting for Daniel and Janet.

"Ok, that's it ... If you don't mind, sir, I'm going to the counter to ask them to call Daniel. He probably is still sleeping," She said, slamming the door closed and walking towards the hotel, managing somehow pass behind the group with her double.

Jack's eyes went from Sam to Magnus until she disappeared into the crowd. There was something in that woman made him remember their encounter with the Sam from the parallel universe. He just didn't know what yet.

Another twenty minutes had passed before Sam went to rescue them from the car. Daniel and Janet told them they got a "Magnus courtesy" open account at the hotel. So they invited them to join them for breakfast.

"I just can't believe this! We moved all our earthly contacts, and we have no reliable data about this Magnus family or whatever. You were on a Magnus plane and got nothing more than. 'Apparently, they have loads of money' and 'we have an open account for almost everything, ' but you just can tell us how the damn Magnus guy looks!"

"I'm sorry you are frustrated Jack, it wasn't me who wanted to come to sneak a peek on an elite member of the society. One who not only have loads of money. But also has relations with every type of knowledge you may imagine, from archeology to computer sciences, and whatever thing that may go in between. You know, maybe you should go back and let me attend the freaking lecture alone! Maybe you should try and see if Thor knows something about this Magnus guy because all I know about them are the facts written in books and for some reason, they are many references but no real data !"

"For crying out loud! Can you just stop!" Sam said, "You two are making a freaking scene! And that is exactly the opposite of our orders! Sir..." she added later with widened eyes.

A guy came to see what all the noise was and then he took a look at Sam, smiled and apologized to her and left. They all stared at the young man and then at Sam, no one knew that the poor man just thought that Sam was the "Magnus guy." After a couple of seconds, she just shrugged.

 **Next day**

 **Nikola's POV**

I am already at the convention center. Somehow, I managed to put myself in charge of greeting the guest. How did I end up here is beyond all logic. Yes, even mine. Damn Helen's charm. I am pacing and welcoming people. I know most of them, almost everybody worked for an enterprise related to or at the Sanctuary. The 'no abnormal chatter, there's an outsider this year' was passed to all. And I'm stuck hearing all boring topics, such as 'if the eagle points left, it means..' or, 'I believe two vertical lines with one horizontal line mean..'

I hate archeologist! They take the fun out of everything. I remember helping Helen during many excavations and helping her with translations involving the dark dead vampire language. I remember the dig in 1928 when we got that strange ring. It was a pity that at the time she just couldn't afford to keep it.

"Helen, I believe they are all in here," I said, talking to Helen by phone.

 _"Already? It's Dr. Jackson in there?"_

"Well, apparently no. Never mind, he just arrived. Dr. Jackson! I presume?"

"Yes, I am Dr. Daniel Jackson, and you are?"

 _"Dear God! ... Sorry, Nikola I must go. I will call you in a second. Will, get Henry we need stunners and ..."_ she said to my ears

"Magnus?" I said to her; I know it was in vain because the communication is lost. "Damn!" Dr. Jackson's eyes widen. 'Manners Nikola' I think and then smile

"You are Dr. Magnus?" The young Dr. seems confused.

"This is how you expected a Dr. Magnus to be?" I said, pointing to myself and chuckled. Well, I would expect someone older, white beard, not too handsome, someone like Helen's father maybe?

"Not really…" He says, and I have to smile at him, mainly because I'm still trying to put her dad in here.

"Well, no. I am not Dr. Magnus; I'm Nikola Tesla... everybody calls me Nikola... or Tesla. So, you must be the one who has Magnus so interested in, hmm. At least you look good," I say. Hopefully, he won't read my annoyed tone.

"Nikola Tesla, Nikola Tesla; why do your name ring a bell?" Seriously, what are they teaching at school nowadays?

"You're kidding, right? Radio, electricity and many other genius things," I say, trying not to sound so pleased with myself, but I know I failed miserably.

"So you're what the great great kid or something?" I sighed. Damn! What to answer? Let's take the easy one.

"Or something…" Yes! Saved by the bell, I think when I hear my cell phone ringing. "Excuse me a second," I say to him, and I slide my finger to answer the call. "Helen, what's wrong?

 _"Apparently, there is some sort of reptile abnormal attacking a neighboring village, the three of the four members of the Prague team has already been injured and will be retrieved for treatment, Henry, Will and I are going to the village to stop this abnormal and put it under protection. I cannot do the lecture now, so I hope you can do it for me?"_

"Of course, my dear. But where are you now?" If I start a happy dance, it would be too obvious?

 _"I'm flying the Prague secondary helicopter to the village otherwise we'll be there too late, if it makes you feel better Will is cursing and every language he knows, he hates when I fly,"_ By the tone of her voice I know she is smiling.

"Ok, so I let you go hunting then."

 _"Nikola wait! I need to apologize to those people. I need you to put me on the speakers."_

"How I am supposed to do that? You called me to my cell phone; remember? "

 _"And I thought you were the genius_." I can feel her smirk, _"Just go and plug your cell phone!"_

"Yeah, because I always bring my phones cables everywhere just for the fun of the ride!" I roll my eyes, even though it has no point because she can't see me. "Never mind, I'll do my thing, just give me a second. Women!" I said under my breath, even if I know Helen can hear me.

 _"You know? When you are talking under your breath; you are supposed to be at a non-hearing range of the person who gets you saying that in the first place,"_ she laughs, God I love her laugh.

"Hilarious Helen," I tell her then I start to talk to the audience. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please sit down, we are about to start. First, our dear Helen has some bad news for you," I use the time that takes to the people to take a seat, to wander to the sound controls and find something that can get current from A to B and with a little twist of my magic finger, I get the phone connected. I walk and stand right next to Daniel before saying "Helen, dear, you are through."

" _Thanks, Nikola_ ," her voice filled the room "Ladies and Gentlemen, Madames et Monsieurs."

"You have to love her French is beautiful, her Polish thought… not good," I whisper to the Archeologist.

"Dr. Magnus is a woman?" He blinks a couple of times totally dumbfounded.

" _I have worked with most of you on occasion. For that, most of you know that even though I have a strict schedule, it's not unusual for me not to follow it when something unexpected occurs. Right now, my team was called to an emergency site. I won't be able to do this lecture. I am sorry. I wanted to be the one telling the story ... but, I'll let you in the accomplished hands of my old friend Nikola. I think most of you already know him, worked with him and probably hated him."_

"Not funny Helen," I say, she just giggles

 _"Sorry, Nikola I couldn't help it if I tried. Well, there is one person in the room who is unfamiliar to most of you. I like to introduce him to you. He is Dr. Daniel Jackson. Probably Nikola is right behind him or by his side."_

" Right next to him!" Someone says I swear I will kill the man

" _As I supposed, well, Dr. Jackson had some unusual ideas in the past before disappearing out of the face of the earth, I hope our thoughts and facts help you, Dr. Jackson. And I am truly sorry and most displeased with not having a chance of meeting you in person."_

" I guess we'll meet on another occasion, " Daniel said, awkwardly loud.

" _Yes, I'm getting angry looks from my passengers here; I think they don't like the idea of their pilot having a friendly chat over the phone when she is about to land." She chuckled, "So without any further comments, I leave you with Nikola_."

"Bye, Helen!"

" _Nikola! Please stay on topic; you have two days to finish the lecture. We don't have time to learn your global domination plans_ ," She says with a playful tone

"Well, you kind of killed my last two global domination schemes," I said not too loud. Someone could hear that, and I am kind of embarrassed by my failures.

" _This is SP19AB; we are ready to land, SP234G is coming with extra doctors. Oh! Sorry if forgot to hang out. Good Bye, you all; have a great time there!"_

"So, let's start." I walk towards the front and start the lecture, "we know that Egyptians evolved extraordinarily, they were the first to show a nonlinear evolving method…"

 **Next day**

 **Sam's POV**

"Hi, I'm here looking… " I say to the guy at the front desk

"Ashley? It is you?" He asks.

"No" why he would call me Ashley? "I am Samantha Carter."

"Aren't you with the Magnus party?" he has definitively taken me for someone else.

"Nope... I'm here to see my friends, Dr. Jackson and Dr. Fraisier."

"Oh, okay... That's great because Magnus party left two days ago; except the other guy, but If you are looking for him, you just missed him. Crap! I think I am not supposed to say such things. Sorry, Miss, I confused you with someone else. Did you say, Dr. Jackson? He and other friends are at the restaurant by the pool."

"Thanks, Mr …" I read his name before continuing "Bracsky."

"Ok, so you already told us this Magnus guy is, in fact, a Magnus Girl," I heard Jack saying while I get closer to them

"Yes! But the most incredible is that they have a kind of accurate history about the Egyptians. About their technology!"

"Kind of accurate as in ..." Jack raises an eyebrow

"They know about the Goa'ulds! ... Hell! The guy giving the lecture even read fluid Goa'uld!"

"The guy? I thought you said Magnus was a Girl."

"Not her... Tesla! This guy is, kind of a genius; he can read Goa'uld like a second language, he's more fluid than I am! He explained how they entered on their victims and his description was very precise."

"Tesla?" I ask just to be sure I heard correctly

"Yes, Nikola Tesla he said," Daniel says like it is a common name

"Like in THE Nikola Tesla? Electricity, radio. "

"He is the grandchildren or something," That's plain weird if I recall correctly…

"Strange, Tesla was an only child and was not married."

"Well, he did agree with the 'or something' part."

"Ok, so you were saying this Tesla can speak fluid Goa'uld? Do you think he could be one? "

"He didn't do the glowing the eyes or strange voice..."

"Yeah, and we know, thanks to Jolinar they can use the host voice. I think we need to get information about this Tesla guy and this Magnus girl." Jack's says I can tell from the tone in his voice he is concerned

"Can we go and talk to the guy?"

"Well, that would be the wisest thing, but the Magnus party left two days ago, and the only one left just check out. If the only one giving the lecture was this Tesla guy, we just missed him. "

"How do you know?" Daniel asks.

"Well, when I came looking for you, I went to the reception and the guy at the front desk told me that."

"Why he would do that? Isn't against confidentiality policy or something?" Janet says, with a frown.

"He told me he believed I was someone called Ashley. "

"Well, now we have an Ashley with no last name to add to our investigation," Jack says

"We could add Henry Foss too. He was some kind of tech, and he has access to Magnus," Daniel provides

I guess we have plenty of research to do in the foreseeable future. Hopefully, something interesting will happen that will take us from this subject. I may be well trained, have tons of expertise in unaccountable fields (according to Jack), but I'm not comfortable stalking rich people.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok… two things. A) I have no idea why this is, so Sam centered, but it is. B) half of my biology is invented :D, although I remember having read a lot to write this part. So, if anyone out there is really good at it, I'm sorry :D

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter Four

 **SGC**

 **Sam's POV**

 **Some months later**

I was, as per usual, playing with one of the new doohickeys, I mean artifacts, that SG12 brought from their last mission. That was until I heard the characteristic "Unauthorized off world activation" as the alarms went off and I couldn't even hear my thoughts anymore. I went running to the control room as I normally do in such kind of situations, just in time to hear General Hammond said: "open the iris and call SG1". So, I checked one of the screens to see whose IDC was.

I must confess that the great thing about the members of SG-1 is the timing. After a few minutes, the rest of my team came running into the gate room; Jack got just in time to catch the first figure who came flying through the gate and avoid him to get a nice concussion from landing head first to the floor.

"Page Medical Team!" Jack screamed as I hurried down to the gate and I got to see that, the figure who now lies in Colonel O'Neill arms was no other than my own father.

"Dad!" I said and ran to his side. I took his pulse, and I could see with the rear of my eye that someone else came through. Even covered with what it seems too much blood, I observe that my old man is pale and he is barely breathing, it reminds me of that day when I told him my secret history about the SGC. God! He was so ill at that time; he was dying.

Janet rushes to us and gently pushes me aside. I think I heard the other guy saying something like "Selmak is doing what she can, but she can't save him." But I am, either too shocked or in a significant amount of denial to believe that was what he said.

A couple of hours passed, and I am really stressed by the situation. The guys are taking turns to try to keep me comforted. But, even if they manage to make me feel safer, all I want is to see is Janet coming out and towards me, with a big smile to tell me he just scared the shit out of me, but he is okay. And then Janet gets out of the room with a not so friendly face; she looks at me with that expression one gets to master after saying too many times "I'm sorry for your lost."

"Sam, I can sugar coat this, but I know well enough to do that to you. I closed every internal bleeding I saw and every external injury which was open. I got a talk with Selmak before having to sedate them to close him, and she told me she could and would deal with the internal bleeding, but all the patching I could do was for good. "

"But," I say, taking a deep breath, knowing that the worst part is yet to come.

"She confirmed that his two kidneys are failing, and confessed that right now she can't do anything to help there seeing that they are other injuries that she needed to cure if we expect him to survive. What I am trying to say is, your dad needs a kidney transplant to survive." I know I went white and I that I gasped for air.

I feel Jack's hand on my shoulder, and with the comfort that his hand gives me, it occurs to me that I have two kidneys and I only need one to work.

"Take one of mine," I say

"What?" Jack jumps

"I have two of them; we only need one to live. Take one."

"You sure?," I nod, "You know this can lower your chances to have children later on."

"Janet, just take one mine already. You know my time with Jolinar probably screw up my chances anyway."

"Ok, well do the test. If you are compatible, we'll take one."

22 hours 54 minutes and 35 seconds passed since Janet took the sample to analysis, I know because I am controlling every second of this wait. Everybody is once again taking turns to watch over me. Jack even ordered me to go to the washroom. General Hammond ordered me to eat. And Janet told me that if I didn't leave the infirmary to go or to relieve myself or to the commissary to eat, she was strapping me to bed and putting an IV, so I won't dehydrate on her and something to make me sleep until the results came back. Finally, the damn result came, and I see Janet looking at it, she is chewing her lip, that can't be good.

She kicks me out of the room without saying anything, and once again I find myself dragged to the commissary. I just don't get it, how do they expect for me to eat? After playing for too long with the food on my plate, I get tired of waiting and being babysat. So, I go and lock myself in my lab.

After what seems an eternity, someone knocks my door. By how is knocked, it can only be one person.

"Am I not compatible?" I ask Janet as soon as I see her hair when I open my door.

"No," she says. Oh God! I think. "But, we could have a chance. I'm ordering Jacob's transfer to the Air Force Hospital; there he will be treated as a patient with kidney failure. But he will have only authorized personnel to work with him," she looks at me, I think she just wants to assess the situation. I have nothing to say, but apparently, she does.

" I'm sorry I made you wait, but you are my friend. I couldn't come over here to give you just bad news or say that I could have a treatment for him and have all your hopes up without knowing if it actually would work. I had to wake up Selmak to know if the treatment would help."

A week passed on a breeze, since the last time that I had a conversation with Janet in my lab, she seemed busy enough even to avoid my calls, I know she is hiding something; she was never good at it. Because of that when I hear her heels coming near to my office, I frown a little. She sighs as soon as she gets to my door.

"Sam? Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure, Janet! " I said, smiling. Trying to look reassuring enough for her to drop whatever bomb she wants to drop.

"Well, as I know you already have guessed, I have no good news for you."

"It's my dad? Is he okay?" I say, 'Duh! What else can be?' Maybe she is dating Jack or wants to ask your permission to date Daniel.

"Huh, it is related to your dad, but he is okay. More than just ok actually, he will be released tomorrow; and according to Selmak his 100% healthy."

"Then?" I'm confused

"Do you remember the entire set of tests we did to check if you could donate your kidney to him?" I nod how to forget something like that? "Well, one of the tests was the HLA… human leukocyte antigen; the result of that test was the reason why yours didn't work as the donator."

"Yeah, I know… if you are not compatible, you can't donate. But what are you trying to say, Janet?"

"Well, I think there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. Jacob Carter is not your father."

"You are joking, right?" I observe her.

"Sam, when those results came they showed you aren't Jacob's daughter. You don't have the 50% of HLA's coming from him."

"What? It can be! How's that possible Janet? I can believe this!" I blurt out without even breathing

"I know it is hard to believe, but I have the results. After I had revised them, I figured something wasn't right. So, I took the samples and did a paternity test; I did it three times with different types of tests available; they all came to the same. They were all negative." I put a hand over my mouth; I notice that my eyes are filling with tears. "That's not all, Sam. When I was doing your test, I saw that your genetic makeup is different to everything that I have seen. "

"Maybe it changed after my time with Jolinar," I said, trying to convince myself this can't be true. To assure me that Jacob Carter is indeed my father. Or that this conversation is just part of a bizarre dream

"Sam...Sam! Listen to me…" Janet says, grabbing me with both arms and shocking me slightly, I am not dreaming, I realize. "I thought about that too, that's why a keep it up to myself for so long. I thought maybe it was Jolinar. But, I asked Colonel O'Neill if he would agree to have a DNA tested just to see 'something.' He agreed, he is normal, even though he doesn't have the naquadah in his blood, he has the protein marker. He doesn't have any of the changes you have, nor does your father or Teal'c."

"Maybe it is different because Jolinar died within me and the symbiont left the Coronel, my dad still has Selmak, and Teal'c body is different."

"I don't think so Sam because I am not talking just about Naquadah or protein markers, your whole structure is different. You know a human DNA is made of two strands of polymers and all that chatter," I nod, I just don't know where is she going with this. "Well, it looks like yours doesn't have only two strands, it has four, I have never, in my entire career, seen someone with that structure, and I think I am one of the most advanced xenobiologists, so that is much to say."

"So you are telling me that not only my dad is not my dad, but also I am some freak of nature or some alien!" I snap to her, she nods, and before I even process all that she said, I am running out of the facility.

I ran as fast as I could. I couldn't stand being there; I couldn't stand being anywhere. How do you cope with being a freak of nature and learning that your father isn't your father? My father, my daddy, he lied to me all my life. I couldn't and wouldn't believe that crap!

So, I headed to try and get some answers from the only person who can shed some light onto my cloudy mind. I stood outside his door for God only knows how long, gathering enough strength to go in and ask. How could I? How on earth one goes to her dad and just asks who is my father? Did you know you weren't my father? Is at least mom my real mom?

The truth is I don't want to know, but, yet, I can't stand not knowing. Looking for the truth was in my blood. I know that I am strong, that is in my blood too, I know. But whose blood do I have inside? A psycho killer? A poor good natured woman? Too many questions ran through my mind so with a sigh I go in.

"Hi Dad, how are you feeling today?" My dad smiles to me. It is a guilty smile. He somehow knows why I am here.

"Hi Sammie, I'm great… the treatment plus Selmak are giving great results. I'm out of here tomorrow. However, I still have to be around so they can check me to be sure it doesn't appear again." I feel relieved in some way. I love the man; he is my daddy. "But you are not in here for that, I can see it in the way you look at me. You know? It's funny I always wanted to know too."

"What are you talking about, Dad?" I try to avoid the conversation.

"Come on Sam, don't play the dumb card with me, I know Janet must have told you already… I know you know that I am … that I am not your biological father," I shift in my place, dad points to the chair next to his bed, and I drag it closer to the bed and sit. "But the father is the one who raises not the one whose sperm was used, right?" I nod, but I can't help the tears in my eyes.

"I knew your biological father once," that surprises me; I didn't expect it, "You don't look like him. Now, the thing I always wanted to know and your mom too, was to whom did you looked like, how they were. As you grew up, we did notice you have a marvelous character and a lovely personality. So, we knew whoever gave birth to you, was a wonderful person.

"So, you are confirming it?" My eyes fill with tears that I won't allow myself to spill. It is funny, doesn't matter what he answers, I already know the truth, and my life… all my beliefs about who I am, where do I come from are floating in some subspace level of uncertainty.

"I'm sorry dear, but I am. But this doesn't change who you are," my world collapses, and here I thought the most destructive thing I would be forced to confront was the Goa'uld or blowing up a sun or fighting with a black hole. But no, those words are way worse.

"How?" I manage to ask, "How I became Samantha Carter?"

"Well, it was a long time ago…"

 **1970, December 29th**

The Carter family was having the worst end of a year. After two years of trying, Jacob and Mary Carter finally got their hopes high when she found out she was pregnant. They were living on cloud nine, for the seven months that her pregnancy went.

It was December; they were preparing for the best Christmas since the year their oldest son was born. The three of them couldn't wait for Mary to give birth to the girl she was expecting, but they still had to wait another three months.

But something went wrong, and the happiness they found turned to be one of the biggest lost someone can have. On the night of the 26th Mary's water broke. They went to the hospital; she gave birth to the most beautiful brown eyes and brown haired girl they've ever seen. But she was not breathing.

The doctor did everything in their power to make her breath, and after what seemed an eternity she cried. They put her in the ICU, but the girl's heart didn't resist more than two days.

They buried her the afternoon of the 29, their hearts buried with her. They stood up by the grave until the night had fallen and a light rain started to pour. Between the shadows of the San Diego cemetery, a light shone. John watched the girl in his arms and observed the family in mourning.

They left, he went to the grave. The tombstone was right there, but it was yet to be placed. It read

"Here lies a beloved daughter.

Grace Carter.

December 26, 1970 – December 28, 1970

You will always be remembered."

John was fighting his inner demon, he couldn't take the kid back to Magnus, he couldn't teleport again, he couldn't control his rage anymore, and his anger told him that Magnus should pay. But he knew little Sam didn't.

He screamed to the Carter family.

"Wait! ... Please hold on! …" he walked to them, barely keeping himself up.

Jacob Carter turned hearing the scream. He saw a man walking to them, or crawling. The man had something in his arms. Jacob ran to him. The man was strange; it seemed to Jacob that he was fighting something inside himself.

"Please," he pleaded with a raspy voice and passed a white bundle of blankets to him. "Please take care of her."

"What? Sir, you need help, let my family, and I bring you to the nearest hospital."

"NO! take her and go… run as fast as you can."

"Who are you? Who is this?"

"She… her name is Samantha. I'm her father, but I cannot take care of her. Please take care of her; she is going to be a good kid. I promise… she was born not many hours ago; she deserves a chance to live, please take her."

And with that, the man smiled, a diabolical smile, and then the man was on his feet quickly, faster than humanly possible. And something in his eyes changed.

"RUN!" He said with the most threatening tone that Colonel Carter heard in his life, and he had heard plenty, "Run, or I won't be able to stop myself!" the man moved to the other side. Jacob ran towards his family.

When he got to the place where his wife and son were standing, he finally moved some of the blankets, and then he saw her and all the darkness that had taken his heart, was filled with love. The family was completed with just one simple look in those beautiful blue eyes.

 **Present**

 **"** We put you in the missing children database. But no one ever came looking for you. We posted your picture in the papers but got nothing. And we were glad. We started to love you at the first moment we set our eyes on you. We decided that, when the moment was right, we would tell you. But the moment never came, and now, it is not right either."

"How was he?" I ask I am curious to know more about them.

"I only saw him that time, he was tall, bald, he had a scar on one cheek, really white skin and scary black eyes. When he gave you to me, they were filled with love and sadness. But after a second or two, they got scary again. He had a deep voice and a thick accent," For some reason, I remember the time when Jack asked me if I could do a British accent, and Teal'c asked me if I had a sister. Maybe, I have some extra family somewhere

"Was it, perhaps… British?" She asked uncertainly. Jacob frowned, thinking back.

"Yeah, I believe that it might as well have been British."

"Oh my god! Are you sure?"

"Yes, why?" It's at that moment when I realize that if I was missing and they cared, they would be looking for me. And added to dad's history, it sounded more than they wanted to get rid of me.

"Nothing... thanks... dad."

"Kid! One more thing, if you still have the boxes I left behind… there's one that has your mother things inside labeled as "291270"." He smiled sadly at her, "inside, you will find the blanket in which you were covered, and the clothes and bracelet that you had"

"Really?" he nods, then it stroke's me, he had another daughter. One I never knew about.

"Dad? Where's your real daughter buried? Why you never took us to visit?"

"Well, you probably don't remember visiting her much, but we took you until you were 3, then your mom, she thought it wasn't good for your of for Mark to go there every time. She, went there until she died, and I go there every time I can."

"How come I never did notice it?"

"Because she is right next to your mom."

"I see. Now I know why you always stood behind when we went there. Thanks, Dad." I say, and I can't help giving him a kiss. Because no matter what blood says, he will always be my daddy.

Feeling better, I go to my house and look for the box. Inside I find a blanket, clothes, and bracelet. I put everything on the floor.

I take the blanket, it is white and puffy and seems expensive, it feels expensive. I feel something embroidered, and I find a YSL tag, so that is a confirmation about the expensive part.

Next, I take my baby clothes; I smell the fabric as if by smelling it I would recall something. But it doesn't work. I placed it back on the floor and picked up the last thing: A bracelet.

It looks like a thin cable and seems too long for a baby. But, after further inspection, I notice the length is good for a normal size adult. Although, if the owner is a baby the bracelet is flexible enough just to give an extra turn around the wrist. It is quite simple, it only has an oval charm, which on one side has some tribal and, at the other side reads "SM vos diligunt aeternum" in a beautiful handwriting. I can tell by looking at it that it is not made from gold or silver, maybe platinum? I shove it in my pocket and make a mental note to take it to the mountain to figure out of what it is made and to ask Daniel what it says.

 **Janet's House**

Janet is looking after me, I know. So, after many attempts on Janet's part, I finally accepted that she wouldn't leave me alone until I accepted at least one invitation, and with 48 hours straight of asking for a rain check's. I had enough, and I took the offer. We had pizza and watched a movie, and when Cassie went finally to sleep, we sat on the couch drinking some wine and silence fell between us.

 **"** You know, you are lucky," Janet says out of the blue, I raise an eyebrow, not too sure if I feel surprised or annoyed.

"Why is that?"

"Because, Sam… you were in the NID hands, and I think they didn't get to the part of your not normal DNA structure, and I'm pretty sure the cleaning teams got all the blood they took from you. So, just think about it! If they knew, they would probably try to get to you even harder."

"Harder than once every two or three months?"

"Well, yes! Do you have any idea of what any scientist out there would give to work with your DNA structure? To learn how is possible? To learn what this structure of yours brings over the regular one? Maybe, that's why you heal so fast." She stopped to take a sip, and we both look to the tv without actually seeing it, "The only thing that bothers me is… why Thor didn't say that you are probably a huge step in evolution?"

"A huge abandoned step..." I mumbled before I can even think what I said.

"Sam… Do not do that to yourself." She berates me.

"How can I not do this?" I ask her, annoyed now, "I mean, I know _now_ that, apparently, I am a 'huge break on evolution,' and as you said, not even Thor says a damn thing about it, he said the evolved one was Jack! And it turns out he only has a two helix DNA."

"Then we have the time when Nirrti played with my DNA combination when I stood up on that platform; I saw my DNA and it was a double stranded version, not a four stranded as you said, so it is a recent change or her machine didn't work? Then, we cannot forget my apparently biological father: some British bald dude, who gave me to my dad as a gift."

"He said he couldn't take care of me. But the blankets and my clothes were Yves Saint Laurent for God sakes! How someone who could afford to buy Yves Saint Laurent clothes for babies way back then cannot take care of said child? And then, the Colonel and Teal'c saw a woman who looked like me and talked 'with a thick British accent.'" She mocked, "And I can help but think, that maybe, I do have family somewhere else. And if that's true, then, why the hell didn't they search me? And why the heck the bracelet I had on my wrist as a newborn baby was made of Trinium? We don't have Trinium on Earth! And why the hell someone would engrave a baby bracelet with 'love you forever' and then give the baby away?"

"I know Sam; it must be confusing. But nothing will nor can change the fact that you are who you are," Janet attempted to comfort her

"Yes, except the teeny-weeny fact that I don't know who am I anymore, or what am I. And I think, at least Thor has some information about me that he is not disclosing."

"You should ask him."

"He is not telling; he said 'I am in no position to answer your questions.' What is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know Sam... I don't know."

"I'm sorry Janet, I should get going, " I said, trying hard not to cry. "And I'm sorry to put you through this; I know it ain't easy to keep such a big secret. But I don't want to end my career as a guinea pig."

 **Some days later**

The phone in Sam's lab was ringing. She picked it up; she never got calls at the SGC. It was strange, then she remembered to whom she gave her number and smiled. Last week, she got a hunch, and her feelings rarely failed. And for that, she called a friend.

"Major Carter," she said

" _Sam?"_

 _"_ Yeah buddy, how are you?"

" _Great girl! Well, I checked my personal database of babe's with a ride, I'm not telling you how did I get it in the first place."_

 _"_ Relax bud! I was the one who showed you how to hack to Harley Davidson and Ducati, to know who much some parts were costing, remember?"

" _Yeah, babe! And I will always be thankful for that one. But back to business, apparently, and as usual, your hunch was right. I did find a hottie with a huge ride under the Ashley name."_

 _"_ Do you have the last name? Picture of her? Or something? Phone number?" she asked hopefully

" _Yeah! That's why I'm telling you she is a hottie! Blond girl, green eyes. Last name, um… Magnus."_

 _"_ You sure?"

" _Yeah, this girl gotta have loads of money, she got herself not only one Harley she got two highly customized ones, at least one million each and she paid cash."_

 _"_ Did you happen to look for another Magnus there?"

" _Well, yes... I found that a Helen Magnus owns at least one of each kind of bike from any of the great brands! I could marry her and die a happy man! But as far as the data goes, it says only that, brand, serial and stuff and her name, nothing else."_

 _"_ Crap! Well, thanks, bud! Sent me the pic to my email, will ya?"

" _Sure! And I'll let you know when the part you ordered is here. Hey, Sam! There's a thing tho… the last time the girl bought something was a year ago, before that, she used to buy something every once a week or so."_

 _"Hmm, that's weird. Thanks!"_

She checked her email and sure; there it was the one he sent her. She opened and frowned. The girl looked young and carefree, and she had to inform her team she knew how an Ashley Magnus looked, and she was pretty sure that Magnus wasn't such a common name.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey! Sorry, I had most of this written, but from the last chapter to what I had, there seemed to be a huge unexplained jump. So I had to fill it in. Hopefully, I managed to make it less of a big leap.

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter Five

"Is there any other surprise that I should be aware of?" William asked curiously, after testing the chair in his office by rotating it around its center. We have been walking for hours; he wanted to see everything. And now here we are. I pursed my lips; I could not tell him a thing, alas, I had to honor the only request he had made.

"No lies," I said to him, wondering how had I came to accept such kind of offer from him. How could I not tell him the truth now?

Just moments ago, he had chosen to share this life (again). Even, when I mentioned the high-security issue and explained to him that Abby, or whomever partner, he might find topside with the years, wasn't allowed down. He couldn't share any knowledge of what he was currently doing.

And if he was to finish his relationship with her current partner, he was offered a 'top side' death. I explained carefully to him how living up there and working down here, can raise some concerns about how he was maintaining himself while living locked up in a building. And how if anyone suspected about my fake death and demise of the Sanctuary network were just a charade, it all would be in vain.

It was a long journey to prepare myself for this timeline again, 113 years don't pass in a blink of an eye. At least not some decades, I must confess I missed this century a lot. When I was forced to go back to corsets and horse carriages and lost such trivial things I got accustomed having. But then, when I started to think how to move around without affecting my timeline and at the same time, preparing myself to move when the moment to return was on the corner, every little second counted.

"It seems to me this was not the first time I've said that to you…" I trail, because, yes. There are many other little changes and histories to be told.

"There are things!" William exclaims in a mix of confusion and joy. I can't but nod.

"Yes, of course, there are things." I smile secretively to myself; there are things a Lady never tells, "Many things happened, and I couldn't talk about them because the present was more conflicted."

"Such as…"

"Shall we go to my office? I believe I will need a decent cup of tea, and you will need space to pace."

He nodded, and we walked away towards my office, the last place he was yet to see. Looking it from inside, this part of the building was almost like being back in the Old City Sanctuary. Out there, the world was different. Most abnormals roam free, and only those extremely dangerous or those who need particular climate or have special needs are the ones caged one level below us, under the underground city of New Praxis, Eden City(?). Yeah, we are still debating on the name, nothing seems fitting and calling it Sanctuary seems not enough.

I enter my office and Will raise an eyebrow. I know what that's for, it's a mix of every single office, I had in my life. It looks eclectic. I walk towards the small seating area I left on the sides, and I show Will a brand-new coffee machine, and the placement of all the elements we need to make our drinks in there. He has this cute grin the whole time. Then, we work in silence as if making tea and coffee was such a complicated task that needs all the focus in the world. Then, I move to the seating area, and he follows suit.

"Are you ready, or do you need more time?" He asks, and I take a sip of my tea smiling over the rim of my cup. He smiles back.

"While I was on my long-lived vacations, I couldn't avoid but notice there were certain adjustments that I could make as time went, without modifying this timeline. I mean, there were things which were completely out of the list, and some which never occurred to me until it was too late. But a handful was doable."

"Like this," he says raising his hands to make his point clearer. I nod.

"As you already know, I worked my way to get all that I needed in time for my big topside end," he nodded, "but there were other things I also managed to do."

"Like?"

"Remember when Tesla and I entered that software?"

"Yes?"

"Okay, I didn't realize, or maybe I did, and it didn't make sense at that moment…"

"Magnus, whatever it is, it was done already, I'm sure. I can't do anything to change it back, nor can you. Unless, of course, if Worth gave you the plans for his machine," I squint at him.

"That's an experience I don't want to repeat." I shudder, "Here goes nothing, when on the software, I found a hidden message. It was a signature I acquainted with and a message I read loud and clear. It said 'she's okay. You will save her later on.'"

"What?"

"It was on the part of the program that was yet to be touched; the signature was mine."

"I'm not following you," he frowns. I sighed. Here goes nothing, I think and sigh.

"I saved Ashley," I murmur, loud and clear enough for him to understand.

"You did what?"

"I realize how this might sound. But I didn't do it lightly; it took me a long while to figure a way for it to happen. And an even longer planning to make it happen. Do you remember how the scan didn't show anything?"

"Yes."

"Well, it didn't because I already downloaded both Ashley and the warrior from the barrier. The complicated part was to bring them out in two separated bodies. But I managed."

"Ashley is alive?"

"She is … partially alive," I sigh, pursing my lips, his eyes widen, "She's not fully herself yet. She needs to be under containment, since she still has to learn to control her new set of skills, and I can't have her roaming free in case she loses control."

"Whoa."

"Yes, there was a whole development of a way to contain her ability to disintegrate herself and keep her in the room. We managed. Now, we are giving her therapy. She's holding herself better, she has, at this moment, up to 6 hours of self-control. However, she needs way more food and exercise than she needed before."

"Wait, how did you manage to 'download' her? I mean, if she was in the software, wasn't that only her mind? Wasn't her body blown away?"

"I had to create an empty vessel for her."

"And you left all the changes the Cabal did inside her body?" he seems perturbed by this. If I must confess, I, too, am disturbed with leaving all those changes in her.

"There was no other way," I lower my eyes, and bit my lower lip. I know he won't like the next part. "As I didn't have much to go with the other girl, I created her a healthy human body and downloaded the mind in it. She rejected it and went crazy. She couldn't reconcile what she felt it was her, with the body she was. Thankfully, I had a copy of Ashley's DNA after the changes, and I could create her whole."

"Just to know if I'm on the same page, your daughter who killed herself and an attacker against the EMP, wasn't dead. Their minds somehow got sucked into the barrier software while their bodies disintegrated. Your past you mourned for her, while, eh, this you, downloaded both out of the system and into somewhere. And then, somehow, you created a body for Ashley, and you are treating her because she has all the superpowers the cabal gave her, and she can't control them entirely."

"Sounds pretty much it," I sighed tiredly, making myself ready to get his final verdict. Surprisingly, he smiled.

"I missed this!" He grinned, "Tell me more, about the treatment, about your past. Any other thing you want to confess to me?"

And I relaxed finally.

 **SGC**

 **Colorado Springs**

In the months since she discovered Jacob wasn't her dad, things got extremely complicated in the Universe, defeating Go'auld's, replicators and saving other worlds from their impending doom became far more preoccupying (and gratifying) than pursuing a not easily tracked Doctor.

Since the moment, she got the picture of Ashley Magnus until now, months had passed, and she found nothing new. They found more things related to the Magnus family, but nothing about any member in particular. She also thought something had happened to the Ashley girl because one doesn't go from buying things every week to nothing in years, just because.

And if she was right, and the girl was related to the same family, she wasn't broke. She had searched the obituaries around the globe and found no mention of a deceased Magnus. The girl dropped out of the face of Earth. The perks of being a millionaire maybe?

Then, when she was sure they were going nowhere with the lead, or with any lead, her buddy called to let her know the girl had made her appearance and was back on the buying track. It didn't bring a thing to their search but, for some reason, she felt alleviated, almost like what she felt when she learned her dad was healing well. She blamed it on the age of the girl and dismissed any other ideas.

And then, things got considerably calmer, and she had to search for things to do and create proactively. Because, it was easier to deal with them, and exhaust herself both in the gym and at the lab, than to think about what she was supposedly fully accepting, the massive change in her identity she never confronted, and she wasn't ready to face. And then, there was nothing left for her to do.

"I need something to do, and I need it now," she said to the air.

"Good thing Hammond called then," Jack's voice made her jump a little.

"What? Sir, you scared me."

"I'm sorry, but you seemed extremely interested in that point in your wall, " he smiled, showing her some her wall, making her smile. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"I'm… getting there," she compromised, and he nodded. She knew he would never interfere unless she asked him for help. Sam smiled because she knew what came next.

"If you ever need someone to talk… you know."

"Yeah, thanks, sir."

 **Underground Sanctuary (Eden City/ New Praxis/ Magnusville/ Insert an approved name)**

For the past years, she was always running from a place to the next: If she wasn't saving the abnormals of impending doom, or reliving her life trying her best to stay put. Or killing, saving, helping, surviving; then moving the Sanctuaries one by one and planning with Feliz the movement of her money.

And then, when everything was finally done, settling in took a couple of months. And when they had achieved it, Helen went a couple of weeks freaking out (yes, she does freak out), before she got the courage to recall Will and inform him of the existence of Eden City.

The novelty was wearing off, even if there were just some months since she sat in the same place explaining to Will how she had saved Ashley without altering the timeline. It was at least two months since he broke with Abby for good. At least three weeks since Kate wedding, Henry's baby was almost due, and with how long that pregnancy was, the baby's room was redecorated at least a dozen times, taking away all the charm that creating a home for your child could have.

She was bored, utterly bored.

She needed something to do; anything would feel good at the moment. And then, her internal comm rung.

"Magnus," she saluted trying not to show what she was already feeling.

"Hey, boss…. We got a call from a top side checkpoint. Apparently, someone spotted a paloraevious rummaging through Colorado Springs. However, there's no top team close enough to get there before any of the other agencies."

"Then, call Will, Kate, Tesla, and offer it to Ashley too; she might want to join us. Prepare the right weapons and remember, they move in groups."

"Sure boss. Meet you at the extraction point in 20."

 **40 minutes later**

 **Colorado Springs Sewers**

 **Will's POV**

"Great, just great! Why they always must go to the sewers? Why can they go to a place that smells good? Shit! I will have to rewash my hair; now it smells like a sewer!" Kate whines over the radio. 'Women' I think.

"Yeah, tell me about it; be grateful that you don't smell it as bad as I do," Henry said. I must add super sensitive to odor abnormals to my last remark. I expect to hear Nikola anytime soon complaining about the smell too, but, hey! The guy hasn't showered in a week; he should be used to this.

"You know, your complaint is…" I start, and apparently, Magnus got fed up too, because she interrupts me.

"Enough you three, we are supposed to be hunting this abnormal and chatting over the radio is not helping," I think that I heard some trail of a smile there. Hmmm.

"Helen, you must always ruin the fun?" Nikola said. There! I was right; he just can't help himself.

What are we doing here? Well, thanks to the Colorado Sanctuary 'cover' office, we are here looking for a regular Paloraevius; this is just another hunting down in the sewers. However, according to Helen; and I just will quote her ' _the Paloraevius is a marvelous abnormal, they go in packs. Therefore, whenever only one is spotted, we can be sure there are at least another pair somewhere near. And they are most definitely harmless creatures'_.

Yeah, right. That vampire thing was a harmless creature too.

Ok, back on track, we came down here in the middle of one smelly concatenation of sewer paths of some sort. We made our insertion point the place where at least ten tunnels of sewers parted on different ways. When I saw, this I thought 'who the hell designs sewers like this?'. So, we did what we do best; whenever we want to get in trouble: we split.

There are six of us, at least four of them and ten tunnels. Every one of us picked one with the hopes of finding the creature and get out of this forgotten and smelly place. Well, yes, after a couple of months down at the new Sanctuary with sweet smelling flowers and stuff I agree this does smell atrocious. I just hope this thing it's not in my tunnel. The harmless ones always seem to look at me as food.

 **Somewhere in Colorado Springs,**

 **O'Neill POV**

I look down to the entrance point Sam chooses for us; I consider that someone is having a laugh with our current situation because even though we aren't being beaten, tortured, killed at this moment. I'm starting to believe this could be one of our worst missions so far. Top ten, definitively.

Oh, I must have pissed Hammond.

I just came down the last step of the ladder, and I am looking at what I can only describe as a big hole with ten tunnels going in every possible direction.

"What are we looking for again?" Daniel asked, turning around and moving his glasses up his nose again.

"A giant lizard kind of thingy," I answer, ha! And people believe I'm the one who doesn't pay attention in briefings.

"I wonder how the hell they came out with that description?" Sam says frowning.

"The description was… 'We saw Godzilla going down the sewers,'" I say. I 'm just trying to figure out how was possible for Hammond to keep a straight face when telling us that one.

"I always thought Godzilla was large," Daniel commented, "what did you do to the General this time, Jack?"

"I didn't do a thing! For crying out loud! Why has this to be my fault? Maybe your rocks pissed him off, or Carter blowing up her lab, or maybe he is just getting revenge for all those things we ALL did since we started," Daniel, Sam and Teal'c look at me with an eyebrow raised, they got to be practicing that!. After a moment, apparently, Carter takes pity on me because she points out.

"Well, we have to choose a path; we will have more opportunities if everyone takes one tunnel." And yes, she is the smart one.

"Indeed. May I suggest we mark the tunnels we choose?" Teal'c offers.

"Great Idea, T!" Daniel takes a sharpie out of his pocket. Every one of us stands in front of one tunnel. Then Danny comes and marks our initials beside our pick. When he writes the D in his tube, I say "Well, if you find something, try to drag it to here and radio in, so the rest can show here and try to get this thing." And then run in. Damn! I hate sewers. That hell planet smelled way better.

Some minutes passed.

One radio crackled.

"I found nothing here; I'm coming back," Nikola advised to Sanctuary Team when he reached what it seemed the end of his tunnel. Will was about to pass the info that he hadn't found anything there yet, either when Kate said

"Move up to the reunion point people! I have an angry creature on its way."

"Roger that! I got nothing," Henry replies

At the same time, SG1 also got lucky when Sam shouted to her comm.

"Colonel, Daniel, Teal'c, I got a Godzilla on my six, I'm going to the meeting point. Hurry up," getting three: 'on my way' for an answer.

"Henry, get the stunners out and aim at the palthing that's coming after me," Kate shouted to her radio

Being the one with the 'extra speed' Nikola was the first out, coming fast out of his tunnel he bumped someone, and the guy fell out to the wet floor he didn't bother to look while calling Henry

"Henry, where the heck did you put those damned things?!" He said into his radio while rummaging in a bag. Moments later, Will and Henry came running out of their tunnels, and they started to go through some bags they had left right next to every one of the tunnels they went in.

"Tesla?" Nikola turned around and looked at the guy he pushed to the floor and aimed his gun at him.

"Well, well, it is Dr. Jackson, what are you doing down here?" William snapped his head in their direction.

"There are two incomings, can you entertain him?" Will asked Nikola, he smiled and nodded. Will and Henry continued charging weapons.

Teal'c came out of his tunnel and saw Daniel being at the wrong end of a gun. He aimed for Nikola's chest. O'Neill went out just on the opposite side of them and looked at the image. He too, pointed his gun straight at the back of Nikola's head . Henry turned around in time to point his weapon at O'Neill's skull.

"Uhm, guys…" Henry trailed nervously.

"I would put down my weapon if I were you, pal," Jack told him out loud, and Nikola laughed. The exchange made Will turn to see the strange vision. Both Kate and Ashely were bound to come out at any point now. He took the best decision he could.

"Everybody put down your weapons; we are using tranq's only!" No one lowered their gun, "Oh! Come on, Nikola, Kate will be out in no time, and you know that we can't kill it if we don't want to be dead," Henry aimed his gun to the entrance of Kate's tunnel. Then he went to O'Neill, "I don't know who the hell you are, but we have bigger issues than fighting with you right now, so could you please stop aiming at him! Or you might as well shoot him and do all of us a favor," then he shoved the weird looking gun towards Jack.

"It's way better as a weapon," Henry shrugged from the other side of the group.

"We have a Godzilla coming from that point in any minute now!" Jack shouted, pointing his new gun to the tunnel marked with S.

"I don't believe that the Paloraevius looks like a Godzilla, a huge lizard maybe…" Nikola talked to himself.

"Henry?" Daniel asked, and Henry nodded.

"Dr. Jackson?" Daniel nodded; he had a confused look on his face.

"Kate, Ash, where are you?" William asked, and at the same moment, the electric blast was heard coming from one tunnel.

"Oh, just follow the lights! Angry Pal is heading on your way," Ashley answered. Will shook his head, she was having fun. Sometimes she was just like old times.

A few seconds later, they saw an electric blast, and then someone came out running, she turned to the exit of her tunnel she had just left and, Henry threw some weapon to the black-haired head, and she fired something to a very Godzilla looking thing. The beast got trapped in an electrified net of sorts. Then she took the gun in the holster by her tight and shoot two darts to the animal's lower belly. She stood up, cracking her neck, and smiling. Then, she turned and found out a huge crowd.

She didn't have time to ask anything because a blond head came out of another tunnel, she kneeled down and screamed: "Shoot at it!" at the same moment that the Paloraevius jumped over her. Kate knew that wasn't Ashley, because, with perfect timing, the young Magnus, came running out and slid herself passing under the creature when it was midair above the woman and fired twice.

Kate saw her 'blink' and keep it shut. Ashley had disappeared for a second when she was about to get to the place where the other woman was kneeling and appeared on the other side, an action that was unnoticed by people far away from the situation. But that would be reprimanded by the energy cost that would have over her self-control. For Kate, it didn't matter, that small effort meant that the second Godzilla was laid deep in sleep. Two out, and no harm.

"That was better than chasing that basilisk … where's Doc?" Kate asked.

"I managed to sedate mine a couple of meters in…" Ashley grinned widely, "I thought you might need some extra help."

"Who are all of you?" Sam said.

"Wow! I didn't know that Godzilla had fangs! Cool!" O'Neill said, approaching the place where Sam was coming to a stand.

"I didn't hear anything from Magnus since we went apart," Will said, Henry and Kate started to put the things in cages for transport. Meanwhile, Ashley returned to her tunnel to start to drag hers out to the meeting point.

"Doctor Magnus is in here?" Daniel asked

"Who the hell are you?" Kate inquired annoyed

"I guess you will have a chance to personally meet her," Nikola said at the same time. "Funny, the same abnormals that avoided your first encounter are the ones that bring you together, absolutely, " Nikola said, pointing to the tunnel that Magnus went in. "She has to come out of that tunnel."

"No word from mom yet?" Ashley asked as she came out of the tunnel dragging her creature.

Henry and Kate went up and pulled the paloraeviuses with them. At that moment that tunnel was very crowded, and the faster they got them out of the way, the faster they would be back to the Sanctuary. Everyone was asking questions at the same time when out of the last tunnel someone jumped and spun in a very professional almost military way. One beast jumped right on top of her, she took a weapon out or her thigh and fired to its belly. The animal fell limp on the floor.

"Add another dose!" She screamed. Will took a weapon and fired at the Godzilla that was already on the floor. The woman that just emerged from the tunnel marked with an O, and stood up quickly and ran back in. A blast was heard, and a second later she appeared again with another Godzilla hot on her heels. "Get down!", she screamed.

Used to her orders, the Sanctuary team threw themselves to the floor. However, SG1 didn't follow on time, the angry lizard jumped right in the middle of the group, attacked two of the men. They got deep scratches on back, arms and legs and then the animal aimed his attack to the only woman on their team, scratching her deeply in the stomach. Sam fell on her knees with pain. Teal'c shot to the pal, but the guns didn't appear to have any effect.

 **Magnus POV**

"You have to shoot him in the stomach! It is its only weak spot!" Will screams to the black guy. Nikola fired an electric weapon to the paloraevius making it even angrier, therefore making Nikola his next target. At least Will would be able to help the injured. I look around feeling somewhat desperate, and find that right next to where Henry is entering back there's a net gun.

"Henry! Net!" I scream, and I can see that Nikola is about to become paloraevious dinner. The weapon is on my hands before long.

"Nikola; at three!"

"Can we make it two?!" He pleads

"One!"

"I hate sewers, Helen!"

"TWO!" I scream, Nikola jumps into the deep part of the drain, while I shoot the net which traps the beast, I see Ashley approaching quickly, and she adds the tranquilizers. Nikola emerges soaked in sewer waters; he clears his face and then adds:

"You did that on purpose, Helen Magnus!" I try not to laugh.

"Of course not, my dear Nikola! Why would I ask you to throw yourself in sewer waters on purpose?" I ask as innocently as I can. Well, yes, sometimes, I am a bad person. I know.

"My dear Helen, you know how I abhor taking baths!" I am about to reply, when I hear whimpers, we run out. I assess the situation as fast as I can. We have three injured, two men who are putting pressure on their wounds. And a woman, Will and the big guy from her team are exerting pressure on her injuries. Oh! God, the venom.

"We need to take them to the Sanctuary! Now!" I say out loud.

"I cannot let you take them," the guy putting pressure on the woman's injuries says. Bloody Hell! I don't have time for this! They don't have time for this!

"I'm a Doctor; I am the only one who can treat your friends. If I do not give them the antidote to this creature's venom, they will die an excruciating death. I can't risk putting the cure in here, but I will shoot them with sedatives that way they can be comfortable while we transport them. Sounds good to you?" While he seems to assess his options, I say to the radio, "Henry, can you get down here with three human sedatives and two duct tapes?"

"I'll be right there, Doc."

"I believe you will be my friend's best opportunity," the man says, I smile at him. Henry throws at me a duct tape, gauzes, and sedatives, handing the same item to Nikola.

"I'm going to secure the last Pal up and drive it to, you know, for containment. Kate should be here at any moment now. Ashely went back, she was called for control," he comments, and I frown at the last part, but I see him turning a bit green.

"Thanks, Henry, hurry Kate up!" I dismiss him and to enfold the girl with gauzes trying to put as much pressure as I can. I stop for a minute, and look at her face and, just when I can't afford to put much thought on anything but her wounds, I notice she looks exactly like me.

She is losing blood. An awful lot of it.

I grab the duct tape and start to roll it around her middle, over the gauzes which are soaked with her blood. "Can I have your name?" I ask him.

"Teal'c," he says raising an eyebrow when he sees me taping his friend.

"It helps to keep the amount of pressure stable," I explain my actions to Teal'c. He merely bows his head. Is strange how I feel that with his simple bow, he is putting a lot of trust in me. While we are applying the last touches to our injured, Kate lowers the cage.

Teal'c raised his eyebrow again. I believe he saw the practicality of it, especially when we were out there rather soon, and his friends are now comfortably laid inside the transport van. Finally, when we are all settled in, Kate speeds off in the direction of the office. Thankfully from there the access to hollow Earth and our side of the town is rather close.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello! This one was faster! Hum…

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Six**

They arrived at the outpost entrance for the Sanctuary; it was an old building with an underground parking lot. The fact that it had an excellent cargo elevator was a plus when they found it and as it didn't look fancy or new, worked to keep unwanted attention on track.

The black van parked with a screech, with the speed they were carrying and the lithe frame of the Doctor, Teal'c was pretty sure she was going to end up on the floor since she was moving between the two bunk beds that contained his friends. But, surprisingly, she didn't even flinch. He didn't either, but he was used to the change from hyperspace to regular speed.

"We are here," the driver announced and the doors opened swiftly, a team of 6 people dressed in medical gowns, entered the van, the moment the Doctor jumped down giving instructions. The team effectively moved each patient to stretchers and towards a cargo elevator that for Teal'c looked like it was already waiting for them.

The way another member of the Doctor team moved his feet rhythmically on the floor, confirmed his suspicion. They moved quickly, taking special care around the IV's Magnus had already applied to them on the way to wherever they were at the moment.

Soon, the cart started to move "a couple of floors" down. Teal'c frowned since there were no numbers, and that made it quite difficult to know how down they were exactly going. They touched ground soon, the doors opened from both sides. He found extremely odd there were walls from the same material the SGC used but nowhere to go. Then something came out of one of the walls, and at the same time, a greenish light moved around the cart. The walls opened, and soon, the light was pouring from the other side of the door.

Sunlight.

Teal'c could have sworn they had gone down and not up, but now, with the sun shining brightly in his eyes, he couldn't be positive. The fact that, they didn't press any numbers was even more disconcerting for the big alien. He frowned and keep the questions to himself, right now, all the attention of the Doctor and that of the crew that had joined them, was with his friends and he was grateful for it.

"The OR is ready; we prepared a multi-injured one."

"There's also disinfectant and clothes ready for you, Doctor."

"What about the antidote? Do we have enough for the first injections?"

"We called to containment, they have enough for ten doses, and they are making more with the ones caught before. Control said testing on the newest additions is needed before they can make them available for production."

"Any other news?" The man who hadn't left the elevator looked around and nodded towards the alien.

"Nothing that can't wait."

The crew disappeared behind double doors and took the three injured along with them. Will, who until then was very silent, stopped the last member of the group before he followed.

"Ah, I'm Will… do you need anything?"

"No, thank you."

"Come with me," he said and started to walk, unable to do much, Teal'c followed him. "The room they are at has an observation area," he explained. "There you can see what's going on, and there's always coffee and tea and pastries there."

Teal'c didn't say a word, and Will tried not to sigh. It was going to be a long wait.

The room he saw below him, surprised Teal'c, he had seen SGC observation chambers (and many other alien facilities), and this one was entirely different to them. It was four times the size, if not more. And each bed was divided with a transparent bubble of sorts, which made it look more like it was several mini OR's, but at the same time, the whole set up allowed the flow of personnel from one bubble to the next in a quick way.

They saw as medical crew, less Magnus, moved the injured from the stretcher to the operating table and started to go around like bees in a honeycomb. Then, minutes later Magnus entered the room now changed into a disposable medical gown. She talked with someone from each room and then, she walked towards the one containing the girl. If they weren't so far away, they would have seen her sighing deeply before going in. But they were, and her reaction went unnoticed. She checked the vitals and then, she prepared something and added it to the IV.

"That's the antidote," Will explained, "She's giving it to her, because she's the one who knows exactly how much is enough, and the reactions she can expect." Will sighed, "Magnus tried to teach others, but it's not effective, they can't seem to measure it correctly, and that ends with prolonged treatment. Which is not good when you have or want to get out of here asap, as we believe you will," He finished, and Teal'c only bowed.

After rechecking all the vitals, they saw Magnus going to the second room, injecting the antidote and then to the third room and repeating the process. Henry joined them for a while and left with a silly excuse, the moment Magnus started to cut the duct tape out of the girl, and the blood came pouring out.

Inside two rooms, they began to work on cleaning the small gaps the paloraevious had made and then washed and placed a cast on the dislocated wrist on one. On the third room, Magnus was cleaning the blood out of what it should have been a deep cut, but it didn't look so profound now. She clipped two of the cuts working patiently in one, she cleaned the dead skin and took away the pieces which might contain more venom, and then closed the first one.

Someone from one of the other rooms entered, and Helen clipped the place she was working and moved to the other one, throwing her gloves on her way out, and donning news as she entered. She touched the area carefully and asked for a scalpel to get rid of some dead skin, she cleaned the area and nodded to the one who was in charge of that room, before throwing her gloves and walking to the area where she was before.

Carefully, she started to work again on the girl, making sure to add enough stitches to avoid an awful scar. And then, repeated the process on the other two cuts. Once, she finished, she cleaned the whole area, and gave some instructions for the bandages, and walked to check the other two patients. Then, she walked out of the rooms and looked up, giving them a thumb up.

It didn't seem like it, but hours had passed inside, and she was starting to feel ready to collapse. She pressed the comm and told them the three of them would be moved to Room 3, before disappearing out of the room. Will showed Teal'c how to get there, Magnus smiled at them as she spotted them the minute the last patient was being rolled in. She asked them to wait outside for a while, and she joined them after scribbling something on her pad. She came out and took the mask off.

"Well, we got the antidote in time, the wounds don't look too bad. One of his was more profound than I first realized, but we managed to get all the contaminated skin out of the way. Her case was a bit more complicated, although her lacerations were less profound than at first sight, I had to open them a bit further to clean the remains of contamination. There wasn't any internal damage, and somehow, I couldn't find the origin of the bleeding. I mean, I found several veins and arteries and patched them, the sizes and amount don't explain the blood loss we saw. I checked both physically and with the scans, and there's nothing left in her. All of them are going to be alright."

"What happens now?" He asked.

"Now, we wait until the sedative wears off," she smiled tiredly at him. "Once they are awake, you can go in. It shouldn't be long. Have you eaten?"

Teal'c nodded, and Magnus went back in to check something else. Kate and Henry walked by a bit later, knocking on the glass to catch Helen's attention.

"Feeding time is finished, I presume?" Helen asked once she was outside the room. Joining the group of her people who were waiting for a little behind the outcome.

"Yup!"

Then, Will understood what the thing that was bothering him was. He approached the glass wall of room 3 and his eyes, finally, fell over the face of the sleeping woman.

"Magnus?" He called.

"Yes, Will?" She answered, coming closer, excusing herself from the conversation she was having with Kate.

"Did you notice it?" He questioned her, without taking his eyes from her patient.

"Yes, I did."

"Can you not speak in code?" asked, a freshly bathed Nikola, who had just waltzed in, making Will jump.

"You bathed," Helen couldn't avoid to point out with a mischievous grin.

"Ha ha… as if you, oh! Dear God!" he said, pressing his nose to the glass, looking at the patient first, and then at his old friend.

"She can't be, can she?" He inquired, with widened eyes.

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"You don't know?! Did you test it?" He asked with his characteristic impatience.

"Not without authorization," she pointed. "Even you need that to proceed."

"Helen!" he whined, then pleaded.

"No, and that's final."

"But…"

"No, Nikola."

"Now, who is talking in code?" William mumbled.

Teal'c looked at them with his eyebrow high. He too had seen the likeness between the Doctor and Samantha Carter, but he had seen her before. He understood that much when he recognized the man who Daniel had called Tesla. It was the same man who had kissed "Sam" in Prague. He didn't question because he considered it should be an issue to be approached by Samantha and the Doctor. He diverted his eyes towards the other two beds, and the corner of his lips curled slightly. SG-1 timing was still good as ever. A grunting sound made Magnus aware of her waking patients, and she walked towards the room and entered.

"Come on in, Teal'c," she called opening the door again, after she checked something on the tablet she had before, "I'll bet they will be happy to see you."

"I have the biggest headache ever!" was the first words that came out from one of the patients. "I told you not to let me drink that much again!" The older looking one groaned.

"Can you not yell, Jack!" Daniel complained, placing a hand over his eyes. Sam didn't speak; she was looking at their surroundings.

"Guys… we are not at the SGC."

"You are so lucky you can't be affected by alcohol T!"

Helen smiled, she knew the effects of the sedative all too well, since she was the test subject a long time ago when it was just an idea. Sadly, one of the main ways to know if it was making an effect or not, was the pounding in the head.

"Welcome back," Magnus saluted. Surprisingly, the three of them didn't look fazed by her looks. 'Come to think about,' she thought, 'the alien didn't make any comments about it, either.'

"Where are we?" The girl managed to say.

The door of the room opened at that moment, and Tesla pushed Will and Kate in; mostly because he wanted to hear what was going on and didn't want to be the one intruding first. But the look he got from Helen told him he was busted.

"We are at an undisclosed location we call the Sanctuary." She told them as an explanation, "I'm Dr. Helen Magnus, and the curious fellows over there are my team members, Dr. William Zimmerman," Will nodded. "Kate Freelander," Kate waved, "and Nikola Tesla."

"There were two more…" the girl commented with a frown. She remembered a blonde girl; she thought she had seen before. And a guy.

"Oh, yes. Henry and Ashley." She bit her lower lip, "I know this is not the best moment, considering the headache you must have. However, I need to know who you are and what were you doing down there?"

Everyone went silent for a while. Two of the injured opened their mouths and closed them several times. Teal'c looked at his friends but didn't say a word, and Helen sighed. She knew they were military for the uniforms and the movements, and because she knew the life of Doctor Jackson to a great extent. With all that information, she didn't have her hopes high in their cooperation.

"I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, Air Force. Dr. Daniel Jackson," Magnus smiled, "Major Samantha Carter and Teal'c Murray," Sam smiled, and Teal'c bowed his head.

"Oh yes, I'm acquainted with Dr. Jackson's work, and he and Nikola already know each other. It is a true pleasure being able to meet you tête à tête, Dr. Jackson. I'm truly sorry I couldn't meet you last time," Helen said with a smile, she remembered quite vividly trying to find him, even if it was more than 100 years ago.

"And what we were doing there is classified, ma'am. And that doesn't explain, what were you doing there?"

"We were hunting," she shrugged, "you were in our jurisdiction, sort to speak. Regarding your health, taking apart the scratches and poisoning. Colonel O'Neill, you got three broken ribs, and two bruised, and a dislocated wrist. Dr. Jackson, you got two broken, two cracked and three bruised ribs, and a mild concussion. I suspect you hit your head on the wall when you went flying. Mayor Carter, you have four cracked ribs and two bruised ones and a lot of blood loss, you might feel lightheaded due to it. And all three of you got poisoned with the Paloraevius venom through the scratches, which were cleaned and closed and they will itch. The first dose of the antidote is passing through your IV at the moment, and for your comments I know you are feeling it, the pounding is one of the key features of it. And… I will be checking your advance with the antidote and making the necessary adjustments to get you out of it as soon as possible. Questions?"

"What the hell is a paloraevius?"

"Godzilla, I think it was how you named it," Will grinned

"Well, we better leave you to rest. The paloraevius poison is not the easiest for the body to fight, and I am getting too old for hunting activities," she mumbled. Everyone snorted, the Sanctuary team because they wouldn't believe in Magnus getting older when she was the most active of them all, and SG1 because for them the woman wasn't older than 34.

"All of you will need to sleep as much as you can. It's easier for your brain, as I commented before, the antidote will give you an awful headache which, unfortunately, I can't treat." The all winced, "You are already under pain killers, and the headache should still be strong enough to be a suitable competitor with a migraine… That's why we dimmed the lights; I will turn them off when I finish. Should I call someone to let you know you are not missing?"

"Teal'c, can you make the call?"

"Indeed."

"Great! Now, all of you, out of here, your curiosity must be sated by now." Her team moved to the outside grunting; she walked them to the door. "Teal'c? May I call you Teal'c?" he nodded. "Kate will show you your accommodations for the night; it will have a phone and an internet connection if you need to use it, anything else, please don't hesitate to ask. Henry," she called the tech, who was waiting outside, "can you fetch a pad for them?" Henry nodded, she turned her attention back to the now, almost, empty room. "You will get clothes to change in the morning; Henry will bring you a pad with the residential floor map on it. Come up whenever you feel hungry tomorrow morning, as I said, rest for the night." Then she started to check their vitals and writing down some notes, making all the effort in the world to keep her curiosity at bay, even when she felt three sets of eyes following her every movement.

"Ma'am… I'll risk sounding rude, but, who the hell are you?" She stopped writing and raised her eyes to meet his.

"As I told you, Colonel O'Neill, I'm Dr. Helen Magnus."

"From THE Magnus family?" She smirked if they only knew.

"It has been a while, Colonel, but if I recall correctly, you were looking for me. Or at least, Dr. Jackson's friend, the one who came with you to the conference, was. Doctor Janet Frasier, I believe her name was. She was very insistent, and Henry had to work overtime for her cause…"

"I… I didn't know…" Daniel excused himself

"It's not an issue any longer. Is she still the MD at Cheyenne?" They opened and closed their mouths, "Oh! You thought we wouldn't check her? I even know which kind of cereal her daughter prefers for breakfast, and no, it isn't a threat…." She stopped, "Come to think about, do you want me to call her? If she's still the MD, and you still work at Cheyenne, Doctor Jackson, then I can presume you all work there. And if all of the above is right, then she must be your physician." She concluded, they went all silent, stunned really. How much she knew and where did her connections came from, they all wondered.

"Yes, please." Sam nodded, after assessing the Doctor, "She is our doctor. We are under a special treatment, something dif…"

"Oh, that!" Helen exclaimed, "We didn't find anything weird in any other member of your team, Major Carter. You, however, you have a heavy metal in your bloodstream, I believe it was called Naquadah by the …" she couldn't say vampires, could she? " _Egyptians,_ I was under the impression it didn't exist on earth anymore."

"How do you know I have something different? It doesn't come out of a simple blood test," Sam asked alarmed.

"Well," said Henry, who had just entered the room when the Doc was finishing her comment, "the entrance has a not intrusive biological analysis, which scans everyone's bodies to search for something out of the _ordinary. I_ t's not as efficient as a full DNA scan, but it helps," he smiled.

"That's the reason why we couldn't give you a transfusion." She explained, "I'm quite surprised you are already awake, with the amount of blood you lost, you should still be too anemic to be this awake." She frowned pursing her lips. Sam shrugged.

"I'm a fast healer, or that's what Dr. Frasier says…" Helen hummed accepting that information a little too quickly for Sam's nerves. But if it stopped her from asking anymore she wouldn't complain.

"Boss, here's the pad. Also, we secured everything for the night. Kate is going to take morning shift, and catch up with us for breakfast. And to whom should I give this cool piece of tech?"

"Oh, just when I thought I couldn't find anyone geekier than you Carter…" O'Neill said. Sam smiled and took the pad eagerly.

"Ok, so you have to…" Henry started to say. However, Sam just raised an eyebrow. "Scary," Henry mumbled, looking between Sam and Magnus, who was using the same expression, "really scary." Sam just started to play with the pad, after a while, she smiled to Henry.

"Thanks, I can make this work," she told him and showed him how she controlled it with ease.

"Creepy, doc... You sure you are not related?" He meant it as a joke. However, he knew Magnus well enough, and her expression told him there was something else going up. Sam looked to Helen, and surprisingly, Magnus was the first to look away; talk about weird things going on! Henry thought.

"Well," Helen cleared her throat uncomfortably, "when you start to feel body pain just press this button, and your sedatives will go in, and you will be sleeping in no time. There's no risk of overdose as they are calculated and fixed with the maximum dosage allowed for each of your cases. Good Night," and then she left. She got a couple of calls to make.

Some years ago

SGC

Somehow, and against all the odds, he ended up in her room. He knew he wasn't supposed to be there, but he wanted to know. He needed to know. Decidedly, he knocked the door, and after a moment the door opened, and he went in.

She smiled at him, her lips curved in a way he had seen only on special occasions. So special, he could have counted them on the one hand. It took all his willpower not to kiss her, only because she wasn't her and it wouldn't be prohibited.

However, even if he did, this wasn't his Sam.

The woman was Dr. Samantha Carter, the Colonel's fiancée, and not Major Sam Carter, Phd., Nerd extraordinaire, love of his life and forbidden fruit all wrapped up in a beautiful outside.

"Jack…" Doctor Carter whispered his name. He closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling of hearing 'Sam' calling him in that way, she smiled. "You, I mean, my Jack, used to do that the whole time, as if he couldn't believe I was his girl. And I don't want to talk about us. It will only make it uncomfortable for you and your Sam." She added, chewing her lower lip. He sighed.

"Okay, don't talk to me about us. Tell me something different, like how did you manage to make the mirror thingy work," Doctor Carter smiled brightly

"You don't want to know about it, it will bore you to death, and I'm not the Sam you want to hear techno-babbling away. So, what about if I tell you some histories that aren't related to us, nor to science… and then, if you want you can share some of your histories. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal."

They exchanged histories for hours until finally, silence came to them. It wasn't uncomfortable it was just there.

"You know, my mom had a friend who told me once a theory of his. He called it: 'the Linchpin Theory'"

"Do I want to know?" She smiled.

"He believed that at some point a Linchpin exists. And he told me, he felt my mom was one of those." He wasn't interested in knowing more crazy theories, but the mention of her mom was a whole different story. His Carter rarely spoke of her.

"Your mom?" He frowned

"Yes, did you meet her already?" The Doctor asked hopefully.

"Your mom… here is, she had a car accident when you were 13," He says sounding sad. "She…"

"Oh!" she said a little bit sad, "you didn't meet her yet." He raised an eyebrow at that, "Don't look at me like that! My Carter mom died in that car accident too; I was devastated!" She looked at him, sighed and continued, "My dad was late to pick her from the Airport, she got in a cab, and there was a crash, she died instantaneously. I still miss her from time to time, but that's for another universe." They were silent once more. "Anyhow, when I was working with the mirror, I got to one parallel universe, and it was completely devastated. It was almost like in the 19th century. No decent electricity, no computers, no nothing. Out of curiosity, I crossed over there and found out that Daniel was alive but he was a burglar. You were a drunken fisherman, and I just didn't exist."

"How's that even possible?"

"It took me a while to find all the information I needed. By that time, I already knew the Carter's weren't my birth parents, and I already met my birth mother. Therefore, I looked for her, to see if she could explain things to me. But she wasn't alive anymore. I understood she had chosen not to do something which had altered the course of her life entirely, but when she died, she didn't reach to all the achievements she completed in my timeline. I understood she was the reason why nothing evolved and I didn't exist. When I got back to my universe, I searched for John, the friend of my mom, and explained what I saw; he told me my history confirmed his theory, and that she was, in fact, a linchpin. So, if you find my mother, please tell her to thank you for doing it and tell her that James was right about the linchpin thing and…" she couldn't finish what she was saying because an entropic cascade failure hit her with all the force.

Jack woke up feeling numb, he was sure he got a big dream, but he couldn't remember what it was. The pounding in his head was brain numbing and avoided him to try and prod a little more for what it could have been. He sighed, and looked to his companions in the infirmary, he looked at the easy way out, but between the pounding and the tiredness he knew the doors could be open and the place unguarded and even then, there wouldn't be a scape. So, he just turned around and went back to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey, People! Sorry, I know I told you this wouldn't take long… but it is here now.

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter Seven

It was late, really late. But for some reason, he couldn't sleep anymore. He was pretty sure what was going on, he patted the bed only to find her gone. It made perfect sense since he could hear the soft tones of her classical music from there. That meant, it was super loud. But then again, who cared?

Not only their side of the corridor, but their floor only had three residents, and each floor and wing were completely sound proofed from the next. (He wondered and asked Helen the reason behind it, and she only mischievously smiled. Then, a couple of days later he was invited to join Pili, in her building and he found himself assigned to a communal floor. Now, he wanted to forget how some interspecies lovemaking sounded). He shook himself out of his restless mind and got back to his most recent mystery: Her side was cold.

Well, it wasn't a mystery per se. Since, after a couple of weeks down at Hollow City, (they need to find a name for it!). He learned that Magnus not only had her twisted sleeping schedule to which, he and his insomnia were also grateful for. Especially when he figured out it was nice to have someone who was still up when he was. He also discovered later, that she woke up in the middle of the night for no reason in particular.

Most of those nights, he would wake up, and she would tell him to go back to sleep. Moments later calm classical music would start sounding, and he would go back to bed peacefully. Some other nights, they would remain up talking about anything at all, or not at all, he smirked to himself. But in some weird nights, she would be gone, and the music wouldn't be a calm one, then a few hours later, she was radiant looking, albeit he could see all the tiredness hiding behind the tons of makeup she still wore when playing her part.

Today, the music wasn't calm. This time, Will found himself pacing and following the damn sounds for the first time since they had ended up (somehow) together; but when Will was about to go into a room in which he never went before, a hand stopped him making him yelp.

"I'm sorry, protege, but I can't let you disturb her," Nikola grinned. Of course, the third resident of the wing would be up; he had, after all, an excellent hearing. Not taking notice on the vampire warning, he took a step forward, but the old man was faster and covered the entrance of the room quickly. Will try to peek from behind Nikola, noticing that the door was ajar and the sounds were louder inside the chamber.

"I just want to know if she is okay," he finally huffed. He was grumpy, sleepy and moody, and the 'protege' was a low blow.

"Oh, she is playing Vivaldi's, Winter. You should know by that alone that she is far from 'okay'" He quoted, "I won't be surprised if she starts Mozart's Requiem at any time," Nikola mumbled more to himself.

"Wait, she is playing? Nice try, Nikola. It's an orchestra; even Magnus can't be playing it by herself."

"Well, dear William. Either you are not as bright as you believe, or you never heard her classical music recordings before?"

"I have heard many of them; she plays them often." He squinted defending himself.

"Did you hear her recordings with her being in the room?"

"Of course! She uses them when she's in her lab, or in surgery. In fact, she was listening to the same piece when patching up that woman downstairs. What is your point?"

"Oh, there was another option, you know zilch about classical music. Oh, young people do have the strangest musical taste. And yet I hoped that thing she says you have was real and you could see what others couldn't." Nikola sighed dramatically, making Will frown, "Oh, just listen!"

"What am I supposedly listening for? Wait! The one she was playing today didn't have the violin playing... but then…"

"Shhh… let's enjoy it," Nikola shushed him, turning around to look at Helen dreamily. Over his shoulders, Will finally got to see her. She was standing in a corner next to a piano. Eyes closed, left-hand fingers flying through the chords. More than enjoying the music, she was enjoying herself, and then it ended. She sighed.

"Come on in you two," she said, placing down the bow and violin. "I was in the mood for some violin today," she said, chewing her lower lip, she looked embarrassed.

"Wow, Magnus that was..." Will was amazed, he talked with her daily, and she always had something new to let him know. He wondered just how many secrets Magnus was still hiding in plain sight? "I didn't realize…"

"Why didn't you just play the piano?" Nikola intruded, "it's more dramatic."

"You play the piano?"

"Piano, violin, viola, cello, you name it, and she plays it," Nikola said… there was something different in his voice when he said that. Like genuine admiration or something.

"I just couldn't sleep…" she dismissed.

"Please Helen, can you play Love's dream… I know you want to," Nikola said wriggling his eyebrows. Helen raised an eyebrow.

"Sure, you always loved my old teacher, didn't you?" She smiled at Nikola and started to play

"I wouldn't say loved Liszt, but he was a lovely grumpy old man."

"Liszt was your teacher?" Will asked, but Magnus was already lost in the music. Nikola grinned and nodded to him. "Yup, her dad insisted, she was four when she started playing it, and the old man visited her or she visited him until he passed away. You could leave them hours in front of the piano, and they would never notice the time flying by." Both Nikola and Helen lips curled when they felt a fourth person getting closer.

Major "Sam" Carter stood rooted in front of the door, peering inside to watch this version of herself, playing the piano as if she had all the time in the world to do it. She knew the woman couldn't be from another universe. Or there would be consequences. Knowing it did not make things easier if she was Helen Magnus, it opened the door for a bunch of questions, starting with: was she related to her? Was that the reason for the striking resemblance? Her dad mentioned her biological father was British; could her mother be British too? Could she be her mother? She fixed her eyes on Helen's back; and she remembered the face she saw earlier, judging by it, Doctor Magnus couldn't be older than what 34? She was 33 herself.

Sam snorted, 'of course Helen couldn't be your mother!' she thought. The Doctor was far too young; maybe she was an older sister? A cousin, perhaps? Would she know about her? Would she know if someone in her family had lost her? She wondered who was Helen Magnus and what secrets lay hidden under that face so similar to her own. There were a lot of mysteries going on in this place, she could tell, all her body was screaming for her to find the truth.

Helen wasn't so lost in the music as she seemed, she was having an inner conversation of her own. She knew who was standing out there and she couldn't but question if the Major was her baby? Could Samantha know how special she was? Indeed, over average intelligence, judging by how fast learned how to go around on Henry software. And she seemed to be healing quite quickly, almost at her healing speed.

"Care to come in, Major Carter? I assure you, we don't bite. Well, at least Will and I don't. Nikola is under control," Magnus raised her voice over the play

"I... I should be resting... I got lost…" The three of them smiled, they could see a lie from a satellite orbiting the moon.

"Please come in, we are just enjoying some classics before bedtime, and it looks to me that you need to sit before you pass out," Will intervened, smiling charmingly, somehow gaining her trust.

"Okay," she went in, taking in her surroundings. She took a seat on a sofa placed next to the piano right next to the one that Will was currently using. Nikola was sitting next to Magnus on the piano bench.

"Oh! I would have loved to learn this thing," he said enthusiastically.

"You had your chance Nikola, and you are still not learning it."

"Oh, you have to pardon these two; they love to annoy each other. I think both know each other too well by now and both know where to push. I don't say it out loud, but I know Nikola is in love with her. Thankfully for me he is too afraid to act on it," Will whispered to Sam

"Oh! You and her?" Sam whispered surprised. Will nodded and looked at Magnus.

"She is way out of my league, I know," he said not taking his eyes out of Helen. Sam could see he had a profound love and respect for the Doctor. "Helen and I, we are temporary, I know." She looked at Nikola and could see that was something in his eyes as well. "Nikola and her, they go way back and will go forever if they must."

Sam looked at Will after that comment not quite understanding the reference. But before she could ask the music came to an end. He smiled at her and then his eyes fell on Helen. This night, Magnus looked exhausted. Under Sam's eyes, however, somehow the Doctor looked younger, looking at her under this light, she thought of her chances of Magnus knowing about her was thinner, someone younger than herself couldn't be around the time her birth.

"Will you want a guide to the infirmary, Major Carter? I have some patients to check, before going to bed," Magnus said.

"I do, but I'm going with you only if you stop calling me Major Carter, Dr. Magnus, the name is Sam."

"I will do it; only if you call me Helen or Magnus. I'll even agree with Doc," she smiled and went to where Will was standing. Magnus wasn't one for public displays of affection, but patted Nikola's shoulders and gave Will a quick peck on the cheek when he came closer to her. "See you later Will. Good Night Nikola. Shall we, Sam?"

The two women strolled down the Sanctuary corridors and floors that separated them from the infirmary. Both had questions running in their minds that both were too afraid to ask. Maybe it was a family thing.

"You think?"

"Would you?"

They asked at the same time and smiled at each other once they were inside of the elevator which opened in the infirmary part of the building.

"Go ahead," Magnus said. "I'm older; I can wait." She winked

"Certainly, you don't look older… you look younger than this morning," Sam pointed out.

"Yes, the wonders of makeup," Helen sighed, waving her hands in dismissal. "However, I assure you I am older than I look. Now, you had a question, pray tell, what was about?"

"Nah, don't worry…it is nothing… it can wait, what did you want to know?"

"Ah... How is the scratch?" she didn't dare to ask. She was too tired for being brave.

"Good, it will heal quickly, I think, but I am not the doctor…" Sam said and smiled; she felt comfortable with Magnus. She never felt comfortable with anybody, so fast before, well with Jack, but, that was a whole different reason.

"Well, it will sting. I will give you a special cream for that in the morning after breakfast." She said and fell silent. "Normally people start arriving at breakfast at 7:30," Magnus said, holding a door open for Sam to go in, and then she went in and checked her two other patients.

"Are they okay?"

"Yes, it seemed to me that you got the worst part of all, but somehow, here you are standing already. You are healing quite fast. Your friends are recovering at a reasonable rate; I will place their full recovery in around a week. They are going to sleep right until tomorrow morning; you should try and sleep too, dear. Or would you want something else to help you?"

"Nah, it's not a great deal... I just will look at the ceiling until I can't bear it anymore and fall sleep."

"Well, good night then… Sam?"

"Yes?"

"Would you mind if I ran some deepest test on your blood? As I told you I thought Naquadah was extinct on earth. It could be beneficial for my line of work."

"Yeah, sure…" she said and immediately regretted saying it. She was after, all a freak of nature, what if Magnus in-depth analysis got as far to find out that her DNA wasn't standard. Magnus saw the fear crossing Sam's eyes.

"Don't worry, my network has over 130 years working, and you didn't hear half of the things we do. I'm not starting to publish stuff now, even IF I get something interesting out of your blood. Now, rest Sam," Sam nodded; she still didn't know why she trusted this woman.

Helen when down to her lab, she didn't want to run experiments at this late; she just wanted to check a simple thing. She placed a single drop of Sam's blood in a glass and pressed the right icons in her pad. She used the extra time to check her ankle, aching ribs and pounding head with the holographic x rays.

"Damn! I'm getting too old for hunting," she thought out loud, remembering when she was in her tunnel

 **Earlier that day**

 **Magnus's POV**

I'm strolling down the tunnel of my choice, every step into it gets me more disappointed, it can't be too long before I reach the end. Surprisingly, when I look straight ahead, I get to see not one, but two sleeping paloraeviuses. My radio cracks and I hear Nikola's and Will's 'I got nothing' and lower the volume not to awake the sleeping creatures. For a moment, I consider asking for help. But they are sleeping, and I believe I'm capable of applying tranquilizers without getting too close.

I take four or five steps into the tunnel and all of the sudden, I lose the floor beneath my feet, and in an attempt of not falling into the dirty water, I manage to move enough to hit myself against the wall… hard. What I didn't contemplate was the pipe hanging low until I heard a thump and my head started to spin. And then, I see a third beast walking towards the pair, and everything goes black.

After I don't know how long, I open my eyes and try to get up, a wave of dizziness hits me. _'Great another mild concussion'_ I think as I feel the rest of my body. With a deep inhale, I add up two or three cracked ribs to my list, and when I start to come up to my feet, I thank the support of the boots, since I damaged my ankle with the twist. Then, I look around to find where the creatures were.

Gauging the situation, there are two possible outcomes. Either, the first creature continues sleeping, and I can shoot both and go and search for the third, or I could shoot one and hope I can move fast enough to escape the second one. And pray the third one doesn't notice the riot. I move further away and aim, and shoot.

Of course, if I already fell, and injured myself as dumb as I did, I shouldn't have hoped for the easy one. I shoot twice to one, and quickly aim for the second one and, I also shoot twice. However, the moment the creature feels the first sting, it howls loudly awakening its mate. The second dart gets a second later, the third one ends up in the leg of the second beast, and I don't stay to look where the fourth one ended up. I start to run, hoping my wounds won't make me move too clumsily and endanger myself more than I'm already managing. The mate is looking around to see who made his partner wail, and I concentrate in healing me.

When I feel my ankle is strong enough for a sprint, I grab a rock (I hope it was a rock) and throw it to the mate. My head pounds and I feel the adrenaline rushing through my body as the first steps of the creature are nearing. It spots me, and it screeches. We both run, and I trip again. What the bloody hell is wrong with me today?

My fall makes the paloraevius stop. I'm not a running prey anymore; there's no need to overdo it. I understand that. The second one comes a slowly behind as if it's going to supervise this one eats me in the right way. I'm running out of time, a drop of its slime falls over my boot.

"It's not going to happen!" I shout and kick it as hard as I can, but my before twisted ankle is sprained now, and my wrist is probably in the same condition, and it takes me a moment more than normal to compose myself and start to move. I can swear they looked at me laughing at my weak attempt to escape.

The creatures move slowly, sensing that I am a hopeless prey. I manage to concentrate enough to direct my healing to the ankle (again). And when I see they are a bit too close, I run for my life. I see the end of the tunnel not too long after that, I look at my back and get a glimpse of one of the "pal's" preparing to tackle me, I smirk when I notice its plan. I jump and turn taking my gun out of the holster and shoot when I get a view of the soft stomach skin.

The beast falls not too far from me, I yell for someone to add another dose of tranquilizers to the fallen creature while at the same time I stand up to take a blast gun from my bag and go in again. The third creature is still standing in the middle of the tunnel as if it doesn't know if it should protect the one who went to me or the one which is still inside. I shot a blast, the electricity annoys the other creature and comes running after me.

"Get down!" I scream, and I notice for the first time, we are not alone and that whoever the other people are, they are about to get killed.

A beep and a blink on her screen brought her back from her reverie. She shook her head to try and forget the way the last paloraevius attacked the unknowing team and the sight of 'herself' being gravely wounded before she could do anything. Memories are a funny thing, back then, she didn't notice the resemblance until she was working on her in the tunnel. Now, it filled the blank spaces with the face of the Major and a painful expression on her face.

With a sigh, she chewed her lower lip before taking enough courage to click and see the results. And there it was, she couldn't be more acquainted with it if she didn't have it herself or if she hadn't made one herself; the result showed a beautiful four-stranded DNA. She smiled, closed everything and went back to her room.

"Are you okay?" Will asked when he felt her entering their room. He knew she was injured earlier. But he also knew her well enough to know she wouldn't treat herself until all the others were in perfect condition or at least stable. And before, she was exhausted and he also knew, sleep always helped her body to enter healing mode, so he let her sleep.

Now, he was worried, he rolled over and turned the bedside lamp, and surprisingly he saw her smiling.

"Everything is okay; I'm okay... Go back to sleep, I'm just going to take a quick shower and will back to bed."

"How badly are you injured?" he asked, assessing her movements when she starts to move towards the opposite side of the room. She sighed, she bit her lower lip. He walked towards her; he was always amazed how she allowed herself to be so vulnerable around him sometimes.

"One broken rib, two cracked, one bruised, sprained ankle and wrist and a mild concussion. Everything is healing normally, thank you for letting me sleep it out, most of my injuries are feeling better than before."

"Do you want me to take a look at them?" He asked, caressing her cheek.

"No, I am fine. I just need the sleep, and I will be as good as new in the morning. Thanks, Will"

"What for? You know that we are in this, whatever we want to call it, together. I will always look after you, you like it or not."

"I know."

 **Next morning**

Magnus was always an early riser, even if she was a late sleeper. And then, after the serum, her needs for sleep were diminished to half, unless she was hurt. In which case, she would fall into an almost dead sleep until her body recovered its healed status. Except, in those nights where her mind wouldn't come to a stop and she would continuously toss and turn until she figured her mind. There was an upper side to her insomnia; it helped both to spur her relationship with Will out of their shared extra time awake, and to keep said relationship out of the prying eyes of everybody else.

That morning, she realized a few hours after falling asleep for the second time, her mind was tired and ecstatic, and her body was in pain. The few hours of sleep didn't allow her body to heal fully, her ribs were painful now, and her ankle was tender, but she woke up full of energy. She knew it was due to that incredible sensation: the possibility of getting to know her older/younger child. She went down to the infirmary to check her patients, all of them were still fast asleep.

Next, she headed to her lab, and in the instant she was in, she saw on the monitors that Teal'c was leaving his room.

"Well, at least I will get company for breakfast," she said to herself.

She monitored the "under" levels and found out Kate already feeding their guarded abnormals, and checked all the other wings under her care. After that, she went to the guest wing of the Visitor Area and found Teal'c looking to the outside. She inhaled deeply and walked towards him; she hoped that, by the stress of the situation, he didn't manage to figure out that the sun shining out there wasn't real.

Henry and Ashley had contacted the Sanctuary and prepared the entrance of unknowing people. Therefore, when they entered the Sanctuary from the under levels of the Colorado outpost, the external corridor was out, they hadn't seen the carved in the rock walls, nor they saw the brick path Will got to see the first time he entered. The corridor led them straight to the secondary building of Helen's building, that was there for cases like this one, the secondary buildings where the last wall who could keep the intruders from the hidden city. 'Huh, hidden city sounds good too,' she thought.

Then, they kept walking towards her main building, which contained a visitor wing, the "Old City" staff and her lab, Infirmary, surgery rooms and all the essential for her work. 'Oh well, there's nothing I can do now.'

"Good morning Teal'c, did you sleep well?" she asked. Teal'c turned around and bowed slightly.

"Good Morning Dr. Magnus ... your accommodations were more than enough. I'm pleased to be here."

"Can I escort you to the dining room?" Teal'c nodded, "Shall we then?" She asked pointing the corridor with her head. He bowed again, and both started to walk in silence for a minute or two.

"Well, here we are… the almighty dining room, there's fresh coffee, tea, and whatever you can eat. Just help yourself," she said, taking a cup of tea and sitting in a place next to the edge of the table. Teal'c raised a brow for her choice of seat and sat in the chair in front of her.

"You are the owner of the house, why didn't you sit at any of the edges?" She smiled.

"Well, I am the owner of the building and the boss, but, I know an alpha male when I see one, and they usually prefer to sit on the edges; there's something about the view, and at the other end is simply not my place, it is Ashley's."

"I see," he looked her straight into her eyes, always the observant one, "You look very young, but your eyes tell that you are wise beyond your years. "

"Your eyes show the same to me." Teal'c raised his eyebrow, and she smiled. "I consider myself an observant person. My years in Earth have taught me considerably about how people, humans and not necessarily humans, act."

"What are you implying Doctor Magnus," he added stoically.

"I'm not implying anything, Teal'c, I'm just merely stating that you are not a human being." Teal'c eyebrow rose again, "Please, don't think of this as an attack of sorts, we all have our secrets." she added with a knowing smile.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello, People! I'm writing from Southern Chile... Working travel and lots to do, but I couldn't help and post this before it's too long and you forget all about this one :P

Enjoy!

M.

PS: Merry Christmas (in case I don't get to finish the next one before the holidays!)

 **Chapter Eight.**

"I see," Teal'c commented, making her smile.

"Are you agreeing with me then?" She inquired softly.

"I must agree with you, Doctor Magnus. It's the truth that we all have our secrets."

"And some of us have the flawless ability to keep them quiet," she smirked again.

"Indeed," silence fell for a few minutes, each busy with their thoughts when something occurred to her. She lowered her cup and turned towards Teal'c, the movement gaining his attention.

"Oh, Teal'c, I must ask you to please do not react when Will and Henry throw an unusual look towards your Colonel. It's just… healthy… jealousy," he bowed, "Furthermore if Ashley joins us this morning, her warning glare will be for real."

"More secrets?" He questioned her comments stoically.

"What else?" She answered, raising her teacup in a toast.

They continued their breakfast quietly for a while when they heard a muffled 'good morning,' followed by the sounds of a chair pulled back and forward.

"Good Morning, Ashley," she smiled amusedly at the grumpiness of her daughter. She was her father's child, equally fond of sleeping in. But also, Magnus enough to wake up early against all the odds. She sat straighter when she heard footsteps approaching as she didn't recognize them as from her team. The voices came soon and pointed to Colonel O'Neill and Major, Sam.

"Good morning," Sam cooed, when they entered, and O'Neill greeted them too, but less enthusiastically. Teal'c raised an eyebrow and bowed slightly to Helen, who smirked when Jack walked straight towards the other end of the table; the exchange lost by the three newcomers.

Following them, Henry and Will joined the table directing deadly glares towards the foreign crew, until they found themselves on the other end of Helen's warning glare. The silence was almost deftly, although, it hadn't reached the uncomfortable level, for which she was grateful and for that sole reason, and contrary to what usually happened, she kept herself around after she finished her tea and used that time to assess the exchanges quietly. Or the lack of thereof. They all stopped eating when some more voices came closer.

"She can't stop herself from being loud, can't she?" Henry whined, and Magnus smiled again.

"I'm sorry to be late," Daniel smiled worriedly, "I got lost in the corridors and couldn't get myself here. Until I found Kate and she was kind enough to get me here."

"She wasn't nice, she was hungry," Henry pointed, and Kate blushed. If the others weren't present, Helen was pretty sure she would have stuck her tongue out. "Anyhow, that's why we gave you a map," he finished.

"Henry, manners," Helen scolded him making him flinch and apologize with a quick 'Sorry.' "Good Morning Doctor Jackson and I are sorry you got lost, it's a big house. We need plenty of space." She smiled at him making him blush and consequently, Will glared at him. Kate plopped herself in her seat, loud enough to take the attention back to herself to which she just shrugged.

"The gang is complete!" Jack muttered to himself after that, while he surveyed the room. He counted heads again and figured out the other team was missing the one they called Tesla. The one Daniel knew and talked with, the one who supposedly spoke the same language than the Goa'ulds and looked like the real Tesla who apparently died at least 50 something years earlier.

Then, he looked at the other end of the table; the blonde girl was eating almost as much as Teal'c would on any regular day and he remembered her asking about her mother when they were still down there, before the unexpected attack. When SG-1 followed his line of sight, they swallowed hard. They all saw he was about to ask something to her since they all knew how much he cared about young people and kids.

"Hey, kid!" He called Ashley and got no answer from her. Kate noticed the old man trying to establish some conversation with the younger Magnus.

"Hey, Ash! The guy is talking to you," she told her. Ashley's eyes widened, and she swallowed what she was eating.

"Oh, sorry, Colonel O'Neill, right?" she asked, and he nodded, "I suppose I'm not used to be called kid anymore." She shrugged, he snorted.

"You got to be... 17? 18? You are a kid," Ashley looked at him amused.

"Yeah, sure…" she answered and got a disapproving look from Helen.

"I'm just curious; I thought I heard you ask about your mom when we were down there… is she late or something?" Ashley shook her head no, "did you leave her behind?"

"Oh no, the first rule of hunting: nothing gets left behind… well, no One," Henry said. Jack liked that rule.

"Then?"

"Then what?" Ashley replied.

"Where is she? Is she okay?"

"Well, taking the fact that you spoke to her already, I must confirm she is safe. However, if we add the way she's sitting to the mix; I'll guess she's got a mild concussion and maybe a few cracked or now bruised ribs."

"I spoke to her?" Jack and the rest of his team showed signs of being very confused. The Sanctuary team looked amused.

"Well, yes, you have done so. May I ask why do you have a sudden interest in Ashley's mother?" Helen asked, taking a sip of her new cup of tea.

"Well, for one… she is way too young to be chasing whatever that thing was; she should be at school. Two, which kind of mother leaves her kid playing with those types of weapons! And three, I'll come back with that one later," everyone went silent. SG-1 new how kids and guns had always been a sensible spot for Jack.

The Sanctuary team exchanged a glance, a mix of sadness and understanding. They had lost many friends over the years and, they had even lost Ashley once. If Helen hadn't traveled through time, she wouldn't be with them any longer. But, her demise was far more complicated than holding a gun. She was far more dangerous without them. Then, confusing all of them, Magnus smiled widely.

"I like you, Colonel O'Neill, you are an over protecting military hero," she commented. She had expended part of her time finding and reading their files. Jack groaned

"Oh! For crying out loud! I just want to meet the damn mother."

"Haven't I just told you that you have?" Ashley asked confused. Helen raised her hand to stop any other comments.

"Well, Colonel O'Neill, as Ashley's mother, I believe I have the right to reply your accusations." Jack snorted and was about to interrupt her, but she didn't give him a chance. "For your first point, I must confess Ashley's officially an adult. I can't forbid her to do what she wants any longer. It's sweet of you to care about her education, and I believe I've managed to give her the best education she could have. If you need more information on it, I can confirm to you she finished school at 15 and got her Ph.D. in Social Sciences at 18, from Oxford, if name matters to you. She also speaks four languages as native and two others on an advanced level, and at least ten different dialects on a basic to intermediate level. And she plays a few instruments of her preference; I can't ask her to keep studying if she doesn't want to. Even if I believe she can go back to it if she feels ready to do so." Ashley smiled thankfully to the last part. SG1, Will, and Kate looked astonished.

"On your second point, I guess I'm a different type of mother. Ashley trains in every single martial art you can think. She's been training since age five. She has enough discipline on her to contain things you can't even start to imagine. "

"Martial arts, we agree. Guns…" He commented, she sighed.

"Oh, I wish it was as easy as you believe it is, Colonel. Not all of us have the perfect childhood. Sadly, for my daughter, that meant she needed to learn how to shoot at a very young age. She was only four when she went to her first shooting range training. She got her first official gun for her fifth birthday. For 'this' kind of mother," she said, pointing to herself, "that her daughter learned how to shoot was crucial to keep her alive. Hence, she I taught her how to protect herself, and it has served her well. She needs the set of skills she has to coexist in her world, just like you need the expertise that you have been taught in your boot camps to exist in yours. Therefore, you have to excuse 'this mother' for being a different type of protective."

"Oh, Come on! Have you gotten a look at your house? She probably should be painting and be famous for over drinking and get a bodyguard around, and she would be safe!"

"Oh, yes. Ashley could, but she chose not. If she wants to do it, she is free to do it. I'm very proud of her and of her decision to stay and take part of the family business."

"I need the weapons, Colonel O'Neill, to control the creatures we work with and I'm excellent at it; if you don't believe me, well, I don't know. Care to arm wrestle, maybe?" Ashley said to O'Neill with a smile which made him remember of the first woman who told him that.

"Wait! I do have a question here," Will interrupted. "You are a Ph.D.?" Ashley just shrugged it off, and Helen nodded, "So, is there a 'Secrets 101' dictated for Magnus women or something?" he asked, and both Magnus laughed.

"How old are you, again?" Sam asked curiously.

"I'm 25."

"I can't believe that… It cannot be possible," Daniel commented frowning. "If you have 25. You had her at what? 12?" Sanctuary team laughed hard.

"That's very flattering; I think you are the first to lower the age difference that much."

"Good morning! I'm here to cheer up the things. May I ask who is flattering you again Helen?" Tesla sauntered, entering the room followed by Janet

"Nikola, how old was Dr. Magnus when she had Ashley?" Daniel asked, not noticing Janet.

"127," He said without thinking, then realizing his 'mistake.' He laughed, "Actually, I wasn't around when Ashley was born, I wouldn't know. James knew for sure, but, he passed away". Sanctuary members exchanged glances at each other. Helen looked at the woman by the door and rose to meet her.

"One hundred..." Daniel started and was interrupted by Helen's voice

"You must be Dr. Janet Frasier; it is a pleasure to finally meet the person who was trying her best to find me," Janet raised an eyebrow. "I believe you were looking around for a Dr. Magnus?" Janet cheeks went pink and nodded. "Well, I'm Dr. Helen Magnus"

"Then, it is a pleasure to meet you too; I guess you have a huge family legacy," Ashley and Will snorted.

"Oh, SHE has a tremendous legacy," Ashley smirked. "If you know what I mean."

"Janet! I'm so glad you made it. We weren't sure you'd be coming."

"I didn't know I was coming to meet you either, but let's talk about that later," she said with a strange smile. She looked to the other people at the table.

"I'm Will Zimmerman; this is Henry Foss."

"Kate Freelander and…"

"I'm Ashley Magnus. You can call me Ash." She smiled brightly at the petite woman. Then turned around, "Mom, I got a meeting to supervise the purchase of new weaponry from… eh, for, New York and Virginia Sanctuaries. I leave in half an hour."

"Be careful, will you?"

"Always."

"Sanctuary… are you a Sanctuary for those lizard creatures?" Daniel started, his curiosity was getting the best of him.

"The Sanctuary is for all," Will explained.

"For all? May I ask, who is all?"

"Or what is all?" All Sanctuary team replied at once, and then they all busted in a laugh, making Helen roll her eyes at the blatant mockery she was subjected to with that simple comment.

"Ah, Helen's Sanctuaries are here for all the lovely creatures who live on Earth, or under," Nikola explained using a sarcastic tone when saying lovely.

"Bloody Hell!" Helen swore to herself when she checked her tablet, "I forgot the network meeting…" she added as an explanation.

"Want to reschedule it?" Will jumped

"I can't; I did it twice this week." She sighed, "Well, you are off the hook from the morning team meeting. I'll cross my fingers in hopes you all know what you must do today. I do expect your reports sometime before dinner. I hope you enjoy our breakfast, and Doctor Frasier, please join them. Colonel, Major, Doctors, Teal'c, please make yourselves at home, regretfully I have a couple of business to attend. Will? Can I leave them in your hands?"

"Yes, go…"

"Walk with me, William. Nikola, you too." They started to walk away from the dining room.

"What is it, Helen?"

"I believe Doctor Frazier will want to check up that I didn't do anything strange to her patients, show her the infirmary. Make sure they don't catch a real glance to the outside." Will nodded. "Also, let them be but keep them checked. I don't want them finding anything out of the ordinary. If we can let them go without disclosing the reality…"

"Will do." He said, noticing he wasn't needed any longer. He turned around and walked back towards the dining room.

"Oh! And Will?" He stopped, and she walked towards him, "Tell Henry to give them radios, they need to be able to talk with each other."

"Are we giving them radio privacy?"

"What do you think?"

"It will make them feel safer, even if it leaves us somewhat vulnerable. However, if we don't and they find out, we will lose all their trust."

"I presume you already know the answer," she winked at him, before placing a soft kiss on his cheek. "Go, I'm alright… do find me later?"

"Sure," he told loud enough for her to hear, even if she was now walking faster with Nikola hot on her heels.

"What's wrong, Helen?" he asked when she turned around for the fifth time, and he followed her movement, and again there was no one on their backs. She pointed the conference room, and they both entered.

"Well, nothing is wrong, per se."

"Then why am I here? Have you finally chosen to kick that boy and give me another chance?" He wriggled his eyebrows.

"No. I brought you here because I need you to keep your eyes open. I believe they will try to find out the truth about what we do, and I don't want to scare them. Not yet at least."

"Are you seriously saying you made me walk all the way here just to tell me you want me to babysit them?" She turned around, chewing her lower lip. His eyes widened. "Oh, there's something more, and I will like this, hmmm before you tell me, I have a question."

"By all means, go ahead," she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Dr. Concubine knows about whatever you are going to tell me?"

"Not yet," she answered, and he couldn't avoid the smirk, "I want to be sure, before talking to him."

"Darn! Your relationship with him is serious…" he huffed, "Well, I guess I just must wait until he dies. What're another 25-40 years when you are immortal?" He added dramatically, "Don't look at me that way, it is the truth. But we digress, let's get back in business. What is it?"

"Major Carter…"

"Your look alike."

"Her DNA it has four strands."

"Oh! Dear Lord."

"You are saying that she is …"

"Well, I'm not sure. Her age and DNA points that she is. And she is smart, _brilliant_ I'll dare say. On the other hand, she heals at almost the same rate than I do. I'm willing to bet that, if we manage to obtain her medical file, she will have many broken bones recorded and not a single one looking as a fixed bone if we scan her."

"Then, you want me to stick around her, to see if she knows or something?"

"No, I just want you to keep her entertained because otherwise, she will access to the sanctuary network by herself, and …"

"I know as well as you what learning without help can do to a person."

"Yes, now go…" she downloaded the monitors and smiled, "Good Morning all, sorry for the late…"

 **At the same time**

Will guided them to the infirmary, and always the observing one, he noted quickly that they wanted to talk to each other in private. He showed to Janet where everything was and left.

"Ok, spill it out," Sam said, "What are you doing here, and how did you get here?"

"Well, I got a call yesterday."

 **The previous night**

 **Colorado Springs**

 **Janet's POV**

It is a warm day in Colorado Springs, Cassie and I are having a nice dinner, the phone rang, and Cass got up to get it. At this point, she knows it can only be Sam to let us know they were back and okay. I see her face change to a sad look and then she handles the tube to me.

"Hello?"

" _Dr. Frasier, Its General Hammond,"_ I can't help but worrying, the General never calls for anything.

 _"_ General, Sir? Did anything happen? Do you need me at the SGC?"

" _No, Dr. I got a call from the President. Someone is going to pick you up in half an hour. I already told Cassie I'm on my way to get her."_

 _"_ Sorry, Sir … I don't understand, why would the President want me for?" I ask frowning.

" _There's not much for me to say, Janet. As I told you, I got a call from the President himself, and he gave me orders to let you know that you will be picked up in half an hour. All arrangements were already made, he also announced me that you would be out for two or three days, week tops."_

 _"_ What about SG1?" They had a mission on Earth; you would expect them to avoid trouble at least on Earth. Then again, I am thinking about SG1

" _I got a call from Teal'c, he told me everyone else was injured, and they are now recovering. According to him, the Dr. told them they would be free to go as soon as they are cleared. And he confirmed he would be calling again. As for you, I don't know where are you going or who is going to take you. Sorry, Janet. I have to go; I'll be at your home to pick Cassie in 20."_

 _"_ Ok, see you then," The whole conversation was unusual, odd even.

Half an hour later, Cassie, the General and I jumped slightly at the sound of the doorbell. I open the door to find a young woman dressed in a dark suit.

"Dr. Janet Frasier?" I nod. "I'm Linda, I'll be driving you to the airport, and I'll be your stewardess when on board. I was told once we land you will have someone waiting for you. Can we go now?"

"Twenty minutes later, I was at the airport, and when the plane arrived, Nikola was there to welcome me. He told me you were all in decent shape, but he was going to take me so I could check for myself."

"That's strange, why would the President call Hammond to get you here?"

"Maybe she called him?" Daniel provided. They exchanged glances.

"Nah..." Then Janet proceeded with her medical examinations, getting to the same conclusion for Jack and Daniel and just a bandage check to Sam.

 **Two hours later**

 **Helen's POV**

"Well?" I say as soon as I find Nikola

"I caught her playing around with the pad; she was ten or fifteen minutes away from going into the network. She is amazing! Can we keep her?" he grins.

"For the looks, they exchanged this morning, probably no. No matter how much I wish for her to stay, even if she's not her... I still owe her a conversation about her DNA."

"Oh, you already did the test! Can I come?" He gave me the most charming smile in his repertoire, and I answer him with a deathly glare.

I cross the building and go down to the infirmary, sometimes having such a massive structure to walk around is painful, especially when you need to talk with two people who are on opposite ends of the same building. Dr. Frasier is still at the infirmary and Sam's at the human side of the library.

"Dr. Frasier, how did you find your patients? Naquadah in the blood stream is very rare. Therefore, I tried my best."

"Oh… I," Janet stammered. "Well, your treatment was correct. May I ask how did you know about the Naquadah?"

"Well, easy… Nikola genius is as big as the account that I get after refilling my wine cellar every week. Between Henry and him I get new inventions which come quite handy, like the molecular analysis that starts whenever someone enters the building. As you may imagine, the scan raised an alert on your friend."

"I see."

"I took some blood samples from all of them, to make sure they all are under the right treatment. It was a big surprise to find that the alert was because Major Carter had a rare heavy metal found in ancient writings, and is supposed extinct on Earth. It will be very … nice... to know how she got it. As far as our expertise with this metal goes; it only gets into the blood, if you get infected by a parasite. We found traces of a marker from this parasite in blood stream Coronel O'Neill too." Janet opened her mouth and closed it again, there was no point in negating the words, they weren't accusations, and they weren't doubts either. "We also know there are only two ways for this parasite to leave the body that it has infected. And that's either you are dead, or your body fights it," but of course, that would mean that O'Neill was an abnormal too, and nothing weird appeared on his scan. Apart from the Praxian traits, of course, but she wasn't going to disclose that either.

"I… I'm sorry, I can't tell you nothing, everything is classified." I smile at her, thinking 'let's see for how long,' but I know she is sorry or at least at a crossroads, wanting to know how I know all these things and not willing to give away her knowledge.

After that, I left her, thinking about calling Henry again and ask him about this team. And I know I must, especially due to the current situation of me being dead, the Sanctuaries not existent, and all that power we used to have gone. I can only trust now that the abnormals who rule the world are still with me, and be grateful that no one had ever noticed they aren't humans.

I remember when Henry, the USA President, not my favorite HAP, came to me with his family. He was no older than two years, and I took them all under Sanctuary protection. I remember well the pain I felt when he 'betrayed me' to keep his position. Even though, I know I caused it myself. I know now, his reaction was due to my visit, before the whole situation exploded, and without leaving trails for me to figure out my plan until I rejoined the timeline. But that's all water under the bridge now, and different conversations need to be appointed at this very moment.

"I see you like my thinking spot," I interrupt Major Carter, who is comfortably sitting with her legs crossed on a dark corner of the library. She jumped a little.

"You have a beautiful place in here," she tells me softly as if saying it aloud would make everything disappear out of thin air.

"Thank you; you should see the other half of it," I smile, and point to the other side of the sofa. Samantha nods, and I sit on the other end, not quite ready to invade her personal space. "I came to talk to you…"

"You know about my DNA," she whispers, and something in her eyes tells me that she is terrified of what I'm going to do with that knowledge. But I nod, she needs the answer as much as she needs to learn the truth.

"I know about your DNA. Although I'm still waiting for some results about your blood, they should be ready for half an hour or less. Do you mind if we move this conversation to my office?" She doubts a moment, "That way we both are sure the wall doesn't have ears attached," I add. Her eyes widen.

"Sure… lead the way."

I inhale deeply, and that was only the easy part.


	9. Chapter 9

Heeello.. Happy 2017 for you all, may this year become *THE* year.

Just to make sure, the timeline is around 2003, so Sam is 33ish, but, let's pretend all those nice things we have now, were available then. (Silly things like wonderfully stable internet connections, decent smartphones, and Facebook and Whatsapp xD)

Anyhow, as per usual,

Enjoy.

M.

PS: I'm not too sure if I'm happy with this chapter, but have put a lot of work into it. So pretty please with a cherry on the top, keep being nice to me :P

 **Chapter Nine**

Helen's POV

Thousands of thoughts are running rampant in my mind, and I'm quite sure her mind is in similar conditions. However, we walk in complete silence; we see not a single person (or abnormal) on our way to my office, I assume it was more to do with the rest of the network knowing about the presence of outsiders than to it being a quiet day. The awkward silence breaks when a radio breaks it. This time, it isn't mine but the one strapped to her hips.

 _"Can someone help me to find the kitchen? I'm in the infirmary… I think,_ " we hear clearly the voice I recognize as Dr. Frasier in the 'global' channel. I smile, I know who will answer that before he does.

"On my way," comes Henry answer.

"I thought we all were on the same channel?" She inquires, pointing to the device moving along with my hips. I smile blushing a little at being caught.

"Ah, mine is on the emergency channel. They all know how to find me if they need me, and this way I don't hear questions others might be able to answer."

"But isn't that too, hmm, I don't know, not controlling?"

"Ah. It might be. However, I have the utmost confidence in my team, and they trust in me. That alone helps me to salvage a healthy amount of time. As I mentioned, if they need me, they will come looking for me. The how depends on the situation. If there's an emergency, they will radio it to this particular channel, and I will run to get there. If there's something they can try before getting it up to me, they will; and if there's something private, they will find me after hours. I guess you can say we have an excellent system, thanks to trustworthy and proactive people." I smile

"Hmm…" She nods, and then she frowns a little, "Henry was excellent explaining how these work," she commented patting her hip, "not that we needed the explanation. Jack, I mean, Colonel O'Neill," she blushed, and I can't help the curve of my lips going up a little, "he is too used to me explaining things …and it's not like we have seen this kind of radios before…" then she stops and apparently notices she is rambling

"Well, they are exclusive, It's the same concept than the ones you know, but some slight differences to make our days easier. Henry and Nikola had a bit of a discussion about using the regular ones, and at the end, they ended up developing these."

"Developing?"

"Henry is one of my principal engineers. Nikola, well, he has a lot of ideas."

"Why radios?"

"Ah, as you can feel by this not so short walk, the place is big enough that you can get lost. Having a communications system in place became a necessity. Even before we moved to this facility, we had issues with cell phone coverage. " I shrug, I remember how when we lived in the Old City, there were areas where cell phone only worked as lanterns, particularly in the catacombs. "There are levels where the signal is impeccable, but the parts in which we need them the most aren't stable. The improvement made on these devices allowed us to communicate even in difficult spaces. These are heavier than your regular smartphone and less distracting. There's no Facebook in the radios." I wink, and she looks at me as if I shouldn't know what Facebook is, or as she doesn't. We stop in front of my door.

"Levels?" she asks, not quite letting me quell that doubt while walking inside my office. "You told them yesterday to lock level two. Which level are we?"

"Well, it depends on how you count. If you start from street level, we are at upper level two. The Infirmary is on the lower level three. The residential area is at the under level fourth. Visitor's area is at the upper level three." Of course, I don't mention that street level isn't their usual street level but ours. "I guess that many should be a proper answer for now. Please do take a seat."

"Ok, so you have too many levels in a large property." She looks around, "quite a bizarre architecture for what I've seen. Some unique plants in your garden and the sun shines weirdly. You also own too many patents and belong to a trail of ancestors with contributions to everything. Oh! And you call this a Sanctuary." She finishes, looking at me straight in the eye.

Well, taking the ancestors out of the sentence, that practically summons it up, I believe. However, I manage to keep my face straight, or at least I hope I've managed.

"Well, then I should start by explaining to you why I wanted to talk and then you will understand more. Do you want a tea or coffee, perhaps?" She shakes her head no.

"Thanks, I just want to start whatever this is," She explains softly, and I nod.

I nibble my lower lip, trying to put some resemblance of order in my thoughts, but after several inner explanations, I realize there won't be an easy way. She's looking at me patiently as if she understands what I'm trying to do within my mind. Her eyes are trained on me until I sigh. It's relatively easy to notice we are both extremely nervous.

"Yesterday, when I left with your permission to check your blood," she blanches, "I went straight to my lab, something was bothering me about you. Believe it or not, it was not the fact we look very similar," she opened her mouth to speak, I ignore her and continue, "It was the fact that you are healing very fast. I got my hands on your not detailed medical history, fascinating reading. And according to it, you have a record of at least 20 broken bones in your body." I pause, "Surprisingly, the x rays' results showed not even a single repaired bone," she frowns, "which in regular terminology means that nothing in your body healed, and thus, nothing in your body ever broke. Alas, who lies? Your files or your body?"

"I can assure you; I have broken parts of my body more than 60 times. They weren't fun; I don't like casts. However, Doctors always told me I heal incredibly fast. I always did." She shrugs and blushes a little.

"Yes, I know you do." I agree with her. "It is expected."

"What?" She squints.

"The fast healing is the result of your unusual DNA structure. For science, you are a miracle walking, a huge step in evolution." Her demeanor changed in a blink, her shoulders dropped, her whole stance looked like she knew this could happen and she was accepting her fate. I'm just not sure of which fate is it so far, or what would be so terrible to lead to such a body answer.

"You want me to be your lab rat," she grimaces. That is absurd but explains her reaction.

"A lab rat?" I ask, with an eyebrow raised, and she nods almost eagerly. I can't help but laugh, a full wholeheartedly laugh, "Good heavens! No! I wouldn't put you, or any other living being for that matter, in such kind of environment if I can avoid it." I explain, and honestly, I have studied many species, but we always managed to agree on how doing it in a way that isn't invasive for them.

"Why not? You just said so: 'I'm an evolutionary step'" she quotes with her fingers, "if what you say is true, then why wouldn't you strap me to bed until you find out what the improvements are? Or the differences that my structure creates within my body?"

"Finally, a question with an easy answer," I smile, interrupting her tirade when she takes a breath and frowns again. "It's quite simple to know the improvements, limits, abilities and the differences that anyone with your DNA structure possesses; I used myself many years ago." She raises an eyebrow; she looks confused. "You'll see, the structure you carry is extremely rare, meaning that you are not the only one around with it." She squints at me; I can see she is processing what I've just said, looking for some signal to point her that I'm lying. But then, she throws me a question I wasn't expecting her to ask yet.

"My DNA structure is rare, and you have it. And we look alike, does that means that we? Are we related?"

"I have a feeling that we are. But, I won't know with certainty until the result of the comparison arrive."

"So, you don't know if we are related, but you already know how exactly I affect the evolution of the human race, then… what's the real reason behind you telling me all this?" I realize she is afraid of what I can say to her, or rather, of her.

"I'm telling you this because you need to know you are not a normal human being. You are part of a particular kind of living beings, Samantha."

"You mean, I am an alien or something?" She adds amusedly.

"Not really, you are a different part of the evolution process, yes. And that makes you not a regular human. You'll see, at the Sanctuary we have worked for years to understand better and protect all the levels of the evolution, of any creature. Due to the lack of understanding of the world as it is, we called everyone who was not your regular human being: abnormal."

"And if I'm a different part of the evolution, then … Am I abnormal? You are kidding, right? I think my friends and I need to leave now." She stands up and starts to walk away. I recognize parts of me in her, and my heart swells. I can't dwell on it now, but I can use it in my favor.

"Huh, funny," I say, and she stops with her back still to me. I smirk, point to nature. "The same woman who leads a field who only a few now and can discuss, the one who asks to regular human beings to believe in the premise that wormholes can take us to other parts of space shortening the travel time. She who's friends with the man who asked the world to believe in aliens using the pyramids as landing platforms, finds unbelievable that evolution had his way on Earth?"

"I don't see the funny part," she mumbles, turning around embracing herself by the middle, defensive stance in place. I crook my head and look at her straight in the eye; I can feel my eyebrow raising.

"It is highly amusing. Furthermore, for the things, I've just mentioned, and things I know from before, I must confess I have a good idea of what you do at the Cheyenne Mountain complex, and it's not deep space radar telemetry." Her eyes widen, "What you do, if you made it work, then it should point you to how plausible is what I'm saying to you. However, even if I haven't gotten my hands on your classified file yet, I can tell you with all certainty: Samantha Carter, at some point in your life, you were host to a Goa'uld parasite. This parasite died within you, and that's the reason why you carry in your blood an abnormal set of protein markers and the Naquadah remains in your bloodstream, but that's not what makes you abnormal."

"How?" She frowns, walking back to the chair she was using before.

"Expeditions." I shrug, "This planet has a lot of stored information which doesn't come out easily to the general population, we make sure of it. But didn't Doctor Jackson mention what Nikola taught in the lecture I invited him before?"

"I… I'm not confirming nor denying anything here…" she starts and I snort.

"I don't need you to confirm or deny anything about Goa'ulds or other abnormals you might or might not have encountered. I know they exist," she looks at me somewhat bewildered, "and you know they do. I just want to know to what conclusions you or they reached with what Nikola explained."

"With the information, we have about the Nikola Tesla, what he said to Daniel, what he explained in the lecture and how he explained… They… We … The conclusion was that he must be a Goa'uld," she confesses sitting again. By the way, she told me that, she doesn't think that's what it is. And sure, I can't help to raise my eyebrow surprisingly and smile.

"Nikola? A Goa'uld? No, that's impossible."

"Why?" she opens her mouth to continue, and I almost can imagine a black bar over her mouth to stop her saying things she shouldn't before she closes it again.

"It has been proven that Nikola, just like you… Or I, can't become a parasite can't last long inside due to the special conditions of his DNA. In the same way, and for the same reasons, it can't live within people with our DNA. If they try, they will die within."

"No, that can't be true. Jolinar died to save me." She mumbles. I smile in understanding because I do know that feeling.

"Jolinar was going to die anyways, even if it got out of your body and into another host, the damage would be too much for Jolinar to survive… I'm sorry, but they are not meant to live in a structure such as yours, the more time it spends on you, the weaker they become. And when they try to cure themselves, their structure is modified. To establish a successful symbiotic relationship, they don't need a double-stranded DNA. However, they need a DNA which doesn't have the ability to modify itself instead of just mending itself. And that is the real reason why you have Naquadah, your body recognized the parasite within you, and it was trying to reabsorb it. It doesn't happen from one day to the next and depending on the size it can occur in days or weeks, and yes, during the period they can control you, or affect you until they are killed inside you. We found a few differences with other creatures with the same kind of living arrangements, and issues with the four-stranded DNA. The Goa'uld leaves behind a trace of their passage within you."

"The Naquadah."

"It takes a long time for the body to lower the metal to an almost imperceptible amount. It's not a necessity, and it doesn't hurt or is needed by your body to survive. The passage, however, does affect the healing abilities you were born with."

"If it's not the Naquadah, then it must be the protein markers. But, that's something Col… every host we met has."

"Yes, that change happens to every host, because the first thing they do when entering is healing the entrance, and that's when the markers are added to the host DNA. But, in a usual situation, you would lose them just as you will lose the Naquadah. And in a few years, you shouldn't have either. But, it is not a normal situation, those markers are added by the Goa'ulds to help induce the healing process. They use them to control what gets healed and how fast"

"That makes sense… that's why they can treat different parts of the host at different speeds."

"Yes, and given that you own them, you now should possess the ability to control how fast and what exactly you want to heal. That's the reason why the markers aren't gone, your DNA absorbed the intelligence from them, and as it is an improvement, it is kept…and yes, that has been proved too." I lower my gaze to my pad when I hear the alarm for results. "Well, I got the results…"

"And?" she asks, and I hold my breath.

"Dear God," It's all that I manage to say. My hand flies to my mouth, and I look at her as if I hadn't seen her before.

"What? Are we related?" She adds, sounding worried, and at that moment, the doors of my office are open brusquely and Nikola storms inside looking at me and then at Sam as if he was watching a ghost. He paces muttering 'I can believe it,' then he looks at me, I know all color has drained off my face.

"It is her," I manage to say to Nikola when our gazes finally lock.

"It is her," He answers me with a certainty that makes me smile, and feel somewhat confident with the current situation. Yes, I knew she might be her, but believing it and knowing for sure are two very different things.

"Care to explain?" She says, she looks a mix between worried, scared and annoyed, and all I want is to comfort her like I wanted since the first time I saw her. However, I know we must think our reaction through, or we could scare her even more.

"You have no idea of how long have we been looking out for you," I say, and I can't understand how I finally found her in a sewer, by sheer chance. "I can explain, everything… or most of it at least." I bit my lower lip and thought of the discussion I must have with her, and then with Ashley, unless. "Do you mind if I call Ashley in here too?"

"So I am related to you, to you both," she affirms and I nod.

"She needs to know, and I will tell her. However, if you want me to explain this only to you I can talk to her later." I tell her, I can feel both her eyes and Nikola's boring holes in me. I keep my eyes on her, and she nods.

"If you are going to explain me something she needs to hear, call her in," she adds somewhat defeat. I radio Ashley, and for the blink of the eye that took her to open my door, I know she transported herself outside my office.

"What's going on?" Ashley asks, looking between the three of us after closing the doors behind her.

"Well, you remember December 29 Ash?" Ashley nods

"I was born on December 29," Sam adds, frowning and Ashley's eyes widen.

"It is she?" She asks, and I nod. "Wow, awesome!" Ashley grins, and Sam sighs.

"Care to explain to me what the hell is going on?"

"Yes. Many years ago, we tried to make an embryo. We failed many times." Nikola starts

"An in vitro embryo?" She inquires amusedly with her eyebrow raised.

"Back then, it wasn't called like that yet." Nikola smiles. "It didn't have a name, and it wasn't the conventional process it is today. As a matter of fact, no one knew it existed until we managed to make one. But it was a bit more complicated than just inserting the male piece inside the female egg; this was a very special egg." He sat on the couch in front of Sam, looking at her, I could easily tell how amazed he was with having her here, alive. "To create it, we had to modify parts of the DNA, in a process that isn't done if the bases used are regular ones."

"Are you telling me…"

"We froze the embryo, right next to Ashley's fetus. And when things were calmer after a few years, I returned to the Sanctuary and wanted to have a look at the DNA, to know if it would work. To check if certain parts of the male DNA didn't screw up the female side and things like that. Surprisingly, Helen told me she brought it to term." He finished sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you existed until it was too late. I always believed things would have been different I did. If I was around when you were born."

"I searched for him before I implanted the egg. I couldn't find him anywhere, and I couldn't keep looking for him, without putting at risk several lives, including his own." I explain sadly, "but when he learned of the existence of the child, he immediately wanted to meet her. And I had to tell one of the hardest truth you can share; I had to explain him, how, on the same day of her birth she was taken away from me. I looked everywhere for her, I still am. But I never got to find her; you have no idea how difficult is to find someone who doesn't exist."

"Let me get this straight; you told me you made her and that you brought her to term. Are you telling me that it was also Nikola's daughter?" Ashley sounds outraged.

"Well, to make an egg you need both male and female suppliers. Helen was one, and I was the other one. For some reason, Watson DNA wasn't stable enough to be used" he added with an annoying smile

"Am I? Was? Is this?" Sam tries, and a smile at her and I risk reaching for her hand, and I leave out a breath when she doesn't take it away.

"Samantha, the results of the tests show that you are in fact our long-lost daughter. What I'm telling you might be traumatizing, but you were created in a lab from Nikola's and mine samples. You and Ashley are half-sisters."

"Good joke, guys, you can come out now!" Sam says out loud. And we all look exchange glances. Apparently, I'm the one who must fix this one.

"I wish I was joking since I know it would be easier to you. However, I am not. You are the daughter I lost, you are the daughter Nikola never met, and you are Ashley's younger sister."

"But how this is possible?" She sinks in her couch, "you look like you are in your thirties, and you said younger sister; while she is in her twenties and I'm in my thirties. So what? Explain how this is possible because the only thing I can come up with is time traveling?" I sigh. She needs to know the whole story.

"It is a complicated history if I must say so. I mentioned before that abnormals are living on Earth. However, for you to fully understand what or how happened, I must explain you everything from the beginning. I will tell you about your abnormal origin. But you must choose something before I start."

"What?"

"You should choose if you want your friends here with you. If you want them to know it, I'm willing to tell you and them, everything. If you don't want them here, then none of us is going to disclose anything about your situation with them. I do offer you to tell them my history, whenever you find it fitting." She bites her lower lip.

"I… I don't know. Should I?" She asks nervously. I smile at her.

"Why I am going to tell you… is the history of all the people in this room. For us, there's no difference. We know what we are and we are aware how people feel about us. We all lived through people reacting to us, and we survived people attacking us. But you..." I bit my lower lip, "They are your friends, you must have some idea of how they might react to learning that you are not entirely human. It's in your hands to decide when or if you want your friends to learn who, or rather what, you are." I can see her thinking hard, "I feel like I must warn you, not every normal human being is ready to confront with the truth of our existence. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't need a Sanctuary." She looks at me, and I can see her pain, then she looks at Nikola, and he smiles at her.

"Trust us, Samantha, we won't want you hurt. We don't want to pressure you, and we certainly don't want you going through most of the things we went through. There are only a few painful situations that can be worse than your friends despising you when they learn what you are. We have been there, it takes time, and it takes special people who aren't afraid."

"It's probably better if you let this sink in," Ashley says, then she looks at me and winks. "I've been there, Sam. I was a normal human being, until someone found out about my parentage, and learned that I had abnormal dormant genes in my blood. It was an incredibly painful change, and against my will. It was screwed up, and somehow mom saved me. And then, when I got a hold of myself, I tried telling people… I saw them looking at me differently. I saw them running away from me... and that crap hurts."

"This won't be easy, will it?" We all shake our heads no, and she sighs. "Then, just me... for now."

"Then, let's start with what you think you know." I say, "For what you told me, I know you believe that my family, our family, has many patents and historical appearances and that for family sakes we kept the same name."

"That's what I understand, yes."

"That's not the truth."

"It isn't? Then how?"

"For many years, I was the only descendant of the Magnus family, so every mention that you know about, everything that you've read, it is related to me. It is talking about me."

"But, the first mention historical mention that I learned was that a Magnus was the first woman at Oxford…" she squints.

"Yes, the good old times," Nikola adds.

"Then, I should tell you; I was born daughter of Patricia Hearthering and Gregory Magnus the 27th of August." I pause, and search for her eyes, "the year was 1850. My mother didn't survive to birth, and my father raised me."

"1850?"

"Yes."

"Again… time traveling?"

"No, time traveling is responsible for the extra 113 years I have. But it isn't guilty of my age. I'm abnormal, I have, as I told you, a four strands DNA. I wasn't born abnormal; I made myself one. My father, he was a very liberal for the era, and he raised me to follow his steps. He taught me, his only heir, about abnormals. He wanted me to be ready to take his life work and to pass it to the next generation. I started to work with abnormals at a very young age; I was 15. But working with them, just help to protect them wasn't enough. I wanted to help them, to save them. Therefore, with a lot of push, I went to Oxford to study medicine. And that led me to divert my attention to other areas too. I met a group of friends, Ashley's father was one of them, Nikola was in there too."

"So, it is true, you are… that Tesla?" She asks unbelievingly Nikola nods "My father is THE Tesla?" she asks me unbelievingly. I nod, I let that 'sink in' as Ashley said before and then I proceed

"I knew about the blood of a race which lived on Earth many millennia ago. When they existed, they were powerful and had some abilities and qualities, and their blood was supposed to be a fountain of superpowers. They called themselves Akhkharu. Now, people knew them as Vampires…"

"Vampires, you are kidding, right?"

"I wish. But I'm not. I was barely 24 when I got a sample of pure, untainted Akhkharu blood. And I was 25 when I created a serum with it. I, I don't … I thought I knew what was doing, but I didn't. I didn't know the extent of the effect of it. I didn't know for sure until five years later… It changed me, in more ways than I could describe by then, I was excruciatingly painful. I felt I was dying; I was sick during a week. They were there, they never left my side, until we figured nothing had happened to me. At least, nothing that we could see…"

"We know now, that Helen's DNA was changed, from the two strands to a fours strands. Part of her qualities includes quick healing, a greater thinking, higher intelligence level. We believe her mind pattern changed since she thinks faster, and she doesn't age."

"And that's why I'm 275 years old, and I don't look a year older than I did in 1875. The other members of what we called "The Five" injected themselves with the serum too. And they all got different abnormalities, Nikola isn't a Goa'uld. But he is part Akhkharu. Nikola is a folklore would call a vampire."

"I would show you how a vampire looks, but it's not nice. I don't want to scare you more than you already are."

"My dad was able to teleport himself." Ashley added sadly, "Uncle Watson, boy he was smart. Anyhow, other changes came from the four strands. But I'm not a good specimen to try with because some nasty people abducted and tampered with me. They injected me with a version of the serum, and then modified and amplified the changes. They screwed me up, and I had to die to be able to overcome most of it."

"That's why you disappeared for a year? You died?"

"You know I wasn't alive?"

"No… I knew you stopped buying bikes and parts for a long time, and you never did that before. And then, you started to buy them again."

"Yeah, I was dead and then I wasn't. But that's okay. I'm fine now."

"Okay, so basically, you are Akhkharu. You are self-made abnormal, who doesn't age. Ashley's dad teleported. What else?"

"Let me see," Nikola smirked, "Helen was Jack, the Ripper fiancée for a while."

"John wasn't the Ripper by himself, Nikola. And you know it. " She added rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah… but it was his body."

"John was Ashley's father." Helen clarified, "Although John underwent the change, his DNA kept the double helix. And that's why when got an electric parasite inside his body while teleporting; it made him go insane, pushing him to become Jack, the Ripper. I was engaged to him, Ashley was conceived around that time until I figured he was the one behind the killings. With the help of James and Nikola, Ashley was extracted and frozen, until 1980. That's why she's your older sister. You didn't exist until 1953."


	10. Chapter 10

OMG! It's finally out! I can't believe it! xD

Hopefully, you will enjoy it.

M.

PS: All the scientific stuff is a creation of my delusional mind. I do hope it makes some sense

 **Chapter Ten.**

Sam wasn't sure what she was feeling, she just learned she was created in a very different way than everyone else. Holy crap! She was engineered! By Nikola Tesla! And Dr. Magnus! And, Holy Hannah! James Watson, who was the real Sherlock. Also, put his five cents.

Sam didn't know for sure if she was comfortable with that knowledge. Alas, she didn't know if she was comfortable with the knowledge that she was always loved and missed by the ones she had almost accepted didn't want her in the first place.

Those things were confusing enough for someone normal; that might be the quid of the question. She wasn't normal, and her family was entirely comprised of different kinds of strange beings she never knew existed before!

She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh, cry, embrace each and every one of them or kick them for not finding her sooner. She didn't do either, and she chose to pace. She also opted to ignore the smirk on Tesla's face when she did so or the knowing grin on Magnus' face.

Putting those gestures aside, she also noticed, all of the involved were in a situation where they didn't fully know what to do, or how to behave with her. Or in front of her…

'It must be weird,' she thought, 'to tell such history to your daughters and then wait for something to happen.'

She considered that in Helen's position she probably would have jumped to the missing daughter and embraced her. But then, she also knew herself, and as the lost kid, she wouldn't react too well to such a personal contact, biological mother or not.

She scrubbed her face, and sighed, stopping her pointless walk, as if that would put an end to her mind. Helen smiled at her softly, her eyes soft and an aura of understanding beyond anything she had felt before. And Sam wondered what kind of crap had she survived to be so impassively understanding, to be able to keep herself at a distance when she knew, by looking at her eyes, all Helen's being wanted to cocoon her in an embrace and never let her go. And then she remembered, Helen had her. Them…. And she had lost them both. And she went from the cozy feeling of being loved to remember how it felt like to lose someone you loved dearly.

Helen saw the moment something dawned on her, what did she do to cause it, she wasn't sure. But something gave when they locked eyes for the briefest of the moments.

"I don't want to pressure you, Samantha." She confessed softly, "Alas, none of us will. This is not the most comfortable situation for any of us; it's far from the ideal I had in my mind when I brought you to term." She smiled sadly. "What I'm attempting to explain is… we want you to feel as comfortable as you can during your stay, which I'll presume will be too short for my liking."

"Thank you," Sam managed to answer.

"Also, I assure you, all our doors are and will be opened, whenever you want to talk with us, or just sit somewhere where you will be unbothered. Having said that, we all should return to work. You can stay all the time you want," Helen smiled, and Sam gulped, there was a long time since the last time she was on such a motherly glance.

Helen ushered Nikola and Ashley out of her office with a wave of her hands, with a small smile she too walked out. Found daughter or not; there were plenty of things to do in her day.

Sam didn't see them back until later. Nor she tried to find her team to talk, she felt somewhat at a loss and wanted to process it before confronting them. She didn't manage quite the progress, but she couldn't avoid them forever, she knew.

Her disappearance, added to Ashley's status, provoked a deafening silent lunch. That both, Helen and Nikola were missing at the table, didn't make things smoother either. The mood left out that something occurred that morning. The not quite so subtle exchange of uncomfortable glances between the long-lost half-sisters added only more curiosity to the rest.

"I can't take this crap anymore!" Kate yelled, throwing up her fork into her plate, and standing.

"Well, join the club!" Jack added with a significant amount of derision. Will and Daniel widened eyes showed how they didn't expect the outburst.

"Sam, what is going on?" Daniel attempted to calm the situation, "I mean, you disappeared almost all morning, and then you came for lunch and, you don't seem quite yourself, is something wrong?" Daniel asked concerned. The millions of answers which polluted her mind were deemed as not fit, she smiled. Although, by it, they all knew something was indeed not right.

"I'm sorry guys; I'm just trying to put some things in order in my head before telling you. I will when I am ready." She answered, and they were all hanging on the words coming out of her mouth that they never heard Helen coming in.

"So, she... Knows?" Will asked, looking over Sam's shoulder, when he noticed Helen's presence.

"She knows more than you would think," Magnus cryptically answered as she entered further into the room. Throats were cleared, and shoulders squared as if her sole presence commanded respect. It did. "Will, did you finished with the profiling?" he nodded, "then, in your opinion are they befitting?" She inquired surveying the room. Will followed her eyes movements.

"Profiling?" Daniel interrupted with a frown. But his question was not taken into consideration.

"Well," Will started, licking his lips quickly, "I believe they all have a secret of their own they won't share with us, which to our standards is a good sign. It makes them fit to keep ours. They also seem to be mentally stable and strong minded. All qualities we search for in those who will be told. I checked the results, and apart from the psych eval. Medically speaking, and as you may have already concluded, there's nothing in them that makes them fit for them to seek the truth by themselves."

"Thank you, Will. To answer your question, Doctor Jackson, yes. You were all analyzed and evaluated since you joined us here. It's of absolute importance for us to protect our interests. However, due that your medicals show that you normally wouldn't try and search our truth, you are already here and will be for a couple more days."

"Are we?"

"Yes, the source of your treatment can't leave this building, and the complete process needs supervision by someone who had seen the evolution of the treatment before, to assure you are in excellent conditions and this experience won't affect any future you will have. Therefore, given the little facts that, your psych eval came clean, and your life experiences aren't as far from what we would expect, and that our residents want to return to their regular days. I am willing to let you know it. The only thing we will ask you is the secrecy which comes from it. If you agree to keep the information I'm willing to let you know for yourselves, then, my office doors will be opened in four hours. And you will learn it. The decision is ultimately yours," and then, she walked out of the room, again.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jack questioned loudly, and as an answer, he got several shrugs from the Sanctuary team. "Oh! Don't give me that crap! I know you know whatever she wanted to say… Spill it."

"We can't do such thing," Ashley answered, and then, she stood up, "you guys know where to find me if you need me," she excused herself. Sam followed suit and was surprised when she noticed Ashley had stopped for her.

"I want to know you; it's so cool for me to know you are alive. And who you are, but I do have some issues which came from my time under the Cabal influence. And I really need to go. You will find mom in her room at the moment, she always goes for a bath at midday," she smiled, "Oh, here, you can have mine, I won't use it until I'm back to myself. So, that's mom's room. Good luck!" she smiled, giving her the 7-inch tablet she had stored somewhere in herself. "back pouch, mom made it for me," then, turned around to check they were alone. "Ah, please don't freak out?" she frowned worriedly. "I really need to go now."

"Why would I freak…" and then in a blink, Ashley disappeared… "Oh, that," she completed for her sake only. She stood there, looking at the space in which Ashley just was, she probably would have been more scared if she wasn't acquainted with the Asgard beam, and yet again, that needed some well-thought tech, and Ashley was only a girl.

She stood taller when she felt was being watched; then she felt someone joining her. It was Jack, she could tell by the way her body reacted to his presence.

"Carter?" he asked, looking at her as if she just lost it. And really, he wasn't that much off the mark. "Are you okay?" The concern, he really felt was noticed in both questions. She nodded once, "Why are you here?"

"I needed some air," she smiled at him, trying not to sound too disappointingly fake.

"Okay, do you need me to walk with you?" He asked cautiously, noticing as he did before his Carter was in a funny mood. Sam looked at him and wondered if she should tell him what had transpired that morning, but if she was grasping straws on that one, how could she ask him to give her support? She just shook her head.

"I know where I am going," she told him, and for once, since their exchange started, he knew she wasn't lying to him.

"Good. You know you can tell me, us, anything, right?"

"Yeah… I know. Thanks, Jack," she finished, blushing when she noticed she put a lot of emphasis on his name and then, she turned around on her heels and started to follow the map in her hands.

Once she left that corridor, she checked the map and saw the room was far away enough to give her time to put herself together and not go knocking. She took every step carefully, having plenty to wrap her head around and then, she was in the residential area, and found it empty. She started to talk to herself, as she often did when she wanted to dissect information for her own understanding.

"Okay… I'm the daughter of two people who made themselves abnormals for the greater good," she whispered. "I can deal with that; it's just biology… it doesn't make me any different than I already am, right?" She said, stopping to hit her head on the first window she saw. Her mind told her something was off out there, but she dismissed it with her next thought and some more walk.

"It doesn't matter that your father is *the* Tesla and he's over 100 years now… Nope, that's nothing given that your mom is over 200 and your older sister is younger than you, and she can disappear out into thin air! Yup! That makes so much sense…" she scrubbed her face, "how am I supposed to be comfortable with this? " She whined to herself.

And then, she was in front of the doors that appeared as 'Magnus' in Ashley's map. Her mother's room. She knocked, and there was no answer. She considered turning around and walking back somewhere else that seemed attractive on the map, but then, she tried the door, and it opened.

Magnus was having a shower, she was more a bath kind of woman, but today she needed the full force of the stream to calm her tense muscles. Over the noise of the shower, the alarm that Henry had created to avoid finding Will and her in an inappropriate situation for him to watch, sounded announcing that someone had opened her door. She turned off the water and started to dry herself, thinking it probably was Will wanting to know what the hell happened to her, and why she was hiding.

Sam crossed the threshold slowly and entered the room; it was huge. She saw a seating area and a library, and a fireplace. But nothing to point to a room or a shower. Then she noticed the door and when to it, knocked again and this time she added a "Hello?"

When Helen heard Sam's voice, her heart fluttered and quickly answered loudly, "come on in" before it hit her. Samantha was in her room, and there was no way in hell she could put her makeup on without Sam seeing her real face, her actual physical age in the unforgiving light of her room. She wouldn't have the chance she had the previous night to try and hide her face in the well-known shadows of the building.

"Bloody hell!" she muttered. Then wrapping the towel around herself, she added, "I'll be there in a minute!" Years of experience allowed her to dress in record time, and with her hair wrapped in her towel, she came out as proudly as she could, "How can I help you, Sam?" she asked softly, coming out of the dressing room and started toweling her hair dry.

"Sorry, I... I don't know why I came… Ashley mentioned you would be here now…" Sam trailed, eyeing everything in the room.

"Yes, I try to take some time for myself whenever I have the chance, I always feel more relaxed after a bath or shower… " she trailed, then was when Sam stopped looking around and saw her.

"Wow! Now that I see you like this, I don't know how I'll manage to make myself believe you are my biological mother. It's amazing, you don't look older than 25…" she trailed, making Helen smile. "Darn, I look older than you!" she added and Helen stopped her movements altogether. She frowned and lowered her towel and then, she came closer to Sam, watching her straight in the eyes.

"Is that what you feel?" She inquired with a bit of curiosity and a lot of guilt. Sam nodded kind of ashamed, then she sighed. "Samantha, I look myself in the mirror every single day, looking for a change. Looking for something which can point to me that I am still aging, that my exterior is changing to reflect what I've gone through, to show how much I've lived. However, every day, I get the same reflection, I see what you are looking now… And then, I cover it under an inordinate amount of makeup. Judging from the day we found you, you don't. You don't cover your face, nor you see the need to do it. Therefore, I'll make a wild guess and say you don't look yourself in the mirror often, am I correct?" She asked, and Sam didn't know if it was Helen's soft, loving eyes, or the way her words sounded so truth in her ears, or maybe it was simply that she was right.

"I don't want to see me aging," she whined. "I'm not the prettiest of them all, and I don't have a job that requires me to go all hair and makeup and with a fancy suit. So, I don't, I don't pay attention to my looks if I can avoid it. How did you know?"

"I have experience with what you feel." She smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Yeah, right," escaped Sam's mouth before she could stop herself.

"Yes, it happened to me around those days around the date when I injected myself with the serum. I wanted to be forever young to be able to help as many beings I could, not the forever young that I'm currently stuck with but with the years passing by one me without having a way to control them. I would go day in and day out from site to site helping around. After the serum, I went a long time without noticing my lack of change. I wasn't paying attention to my looks until Nikola and John pointed it out to me. You like me back then, aren't noticing it yet, because no one ever showed it out to you," Magnus said passing her a mirror.

"I don't get it." She added with a frown, lowering the hand mirror.

"Come," Magnus leads her to a full-length mirror in her dressing room. "Look at yourself. How old do you think you look? Then, look at me, really look at me, like this, with no covers on, and not hiding in the shades, and pray tell whatever makes you believe I looked any younger than you?"

Sam looked and herself, then at Magnus, and then she did a double take, surprised when she found she looked somewhat younger than Helen did.

"I don't get it, how is this even possible? I'm 33 years old, and you don't look a day older than 25... How could I think I look younger than you?" she frowned, Helen smiled at her lovingly.

"That one I can answer," she added, placing a lock of hair behind Sam's ear, "you thought you looked old because you had no one to compare with. I haven't met your mother, the woman who raised you, but she probably doesn't look quite young."

"My mom died when I was 13."

"I'm sorry, growing up without a mother is a tragedy. I understand the feeling, believe me."

"But what does she have to do with this?" Sam asked, waving in front of her face.

"The mind is a very complex thing, and it can play tricks on us. It can make us see something in which we believe as if it was real. Ashley didn't stop aging until …" she bit her lower lip, "when they made her dormant genes active…She was worried that by the time she turned 30, I would look like her younger sister." Helen smiled, "Now, you… Your genes were active the whole time. And based on history, I will say your aging started to decrease by the time you were 16 and fully stopped around 22, that's when it's believed an Akhkharu's body reached the full development."

"Am I abnormal?" she asked, biting her lower lip.

"For your current mind state…" Helen trailed, biting her lower lip, "I wish I could deny it. I wish I could tell you, I was mistaken and you aren't who you are. I wish I could inform you that everything you believed in before meeting me is the truth, I wish I could say your biological family background won't affect you if in the least...But I can't. You are Nikola's and mine. You are Ashley's half-sister…. You are a powerful abnormal, and for some, you are a threat to humankind."

"I was afraid you would answer that," she sighed.

"I know, and can't blame you for feeling that way. I can only hope that someday, you will find in you the forgiveness that I don't deserve. I can't nor will forgive myself for losing you in the first place," she winced, and once again, Sam found herself knowing those words were true. Then, Helen smiled and caressed her cheeks in a ghostly touch, that didn't make her feel she needed to flee. "But this is not about me and how I feel. This is about you; I can't change what happened, I couldn't change it when I relived it. I can only accept that, whatever it happens, it's in your hands, and you must understand that, whatever you choose, I'll take, even if that means I will lose you for good."

"I… I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything; you just need to know, that I've loved you that much. That I, we, love you enough to let you go, to let you be whoever you want to be… And even if I can give you much more than that, I know that's not what you need now," she smiled sadly, and then, she gasped for air when Sam placed a small kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you."

A beat passed, and Sam saw part of Magnus walls beginning to reconstruct themselves, in a way she was quite familiar.

"Now, I need to get ready, I'm quite confident your friends will be shocked if I appear like this, and I will probably scare half of my personal. You are welcomed to stay and asks as many questions as you want."

They left her room around an hour later, as she covered her face with a dexterity won over the years, Magnus answered as many questions as they could fit during her time off. She had a scheduled and official meeting with Will before the disclosure reunion with Sam's team. And Helen knew that if she took more than her standard allotted siesta time, someone was bound to come up and check what was happening with her. It was also strategical; the moment was very intimate and left her a lot more vulnerable than she liked to feel around people she should be guiding.

"Oh, I must confess something," she didn't know quite to pose her confession, it sounded rather cheesy, "I made a promise to Will when he rejoined my team, and I try to honor it."

"What kind of promise?" Sam asked out of curiosity.

"Don't worry; it's quite simple actually. He asked for me to try and avoid keeping secrets from him."

"And you are telling me this because?"

"I understand you might not be comfortable telling your teammates about your origins. However, not only because of the promise but because I do respect him as a friend and as my partner, I will let Will know about you."

"Oh… If you must," she sounded a bit disappointed. Helen stopped and turned to look at her.

"I don't want to walk on eggshells around you or anyone for that matter. However, even if I feel I must tread carefully with you, I also respect you to let you know he will learn it with or without your full consent."

"Thanks, I guess," she added before the silence took over for a couple of meters. Then, Sam cleared her throat.

"I… I saw Ashley disappear in front of my eyes," Sam confessed. She didn't know if she should be surprised, scared or just freaking out over that information. However, Helen looked at her from the corner of her eyes.

"Ah, that. Was she in a hurry?" Sam nodded. "The ability to demolecularize herself comes from her father. It was part of her dormant genes." She explained and Sam made an O with her mouth, recalling what she learned about Ashley's genetical situation. Then she studied the answer and stopped dead in her tracks. Helen turned around to see what happened to her.

"So, she demolecularizes herself?" She inquired, looking exactly like Nikola did when they learned about John's skills. She could see Sam's mind working on the details and in the theories that such kind of affirmations brought out to the light. And she smiled, after all, she had been there too.

"Yes, that's the name we gave it. It is a rather complex theory, part of the quantum theories was developed because of her father's ability to do the same. What they can do is, imagine a place and transport themselves to it by disarming their structure, becoming energy in the purest form and rearming themselves on the other place. Exchanging their energy form with the energy form on the other side, they do have the ability to do the same to people they are holding. However, even if the skill comes handy, there are ways to contain them."

"Whoa…"

"Yes, Ashley's skills are more advanced than John's, we needed a new containment form since EM shields did nothing for her."

"What about her father?"

"He…" her voice broke a little, "He's deceased. Or we presume he is, in his attempt to save me, and my attempt to preserve the current reality, I lost track of him; we found nothing to point out that he came out alive of there. The structure of the place was not suitable for a teleportation. And if he did, he could end up as part of the walls."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, most of my life I've seen people I love disappearing, being just an act like Nikola's or for good as many of my friends and colleagues. It's not easy, but when I know someone. I also know, chances are I will lose them sooner or later," she added sadly, and Sam gulped. "It is part of who I am."

She had lost Daniel a good amount of times, and he had always come back. She lost people from the base and her mom, but she couldn't imagine what it could be like to meet people every year and lose them while you remain the same way that you did when you met them.

"Will should be here any moment, feel free to roam my library, you might find something you like. I do have some work to do. When he arrives, you can remain in here if you desire so."

Sam perused the library and found a good number of books that had perked her imagination. But she decided she should do some background checking on vampires. And she sat in the armchair in Helen's office reading about them. The real history, not the bloodsucking, garlic eaters' vampires. And Helen couldn't avoid but feel a little happier knowing she hadn't made her daughter fly away from her…. Not yet, at least.


	11. Chapter 11

This is making my head spin! xD that's why is taking too long. First I must unscramble my ideas and then I can fix what I had written…. Anyhow …

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Eleven**

They were seated in a companion's silence, Helen concentrated on her work, Sam focused on a book. Until a knock made them both look up, Helen checked her watch and smiled.

"It must be Will. Please do stay, if you feel comfortable with me sharing your secret, sort to speak, with him," Sam bit her lower lip and then, she made the mistake of looking into Helen's hopeful eyes and nodded. A second knock was heard.

"Enter," Magnus said loud enough, as per custom whenever her door was closed. Will opened the door and just entered his head. "Please, come on in, Will. I'll be with you in a minute." He nodded happily and entered the room, and frowned when he saw the other person sitting in Helen's office, which was unexpected, to say the least.

"Good Afternoon… Major?" he frowned, seeing that the woman didn't attempt to leave the room. "Magnus? You said you wanted a meeting with me?" Will said, pointing discretely to Sam.

"Yes, I did. Otherwise, I wouldn't cite you. I still do. However, I also am in desperate need of finishing this and sent it to Onryuji. Then, I'm all yours," she said not even taking her eyes off the screen. Although, she knew him well enough to know that, with that phrase, his mind went straight to the gutter. "Get back to Earth, William, and please do take a seat," she smirked, making him blush.

"Totally caught," he mumbled, walking back to the seating area.

Sam watched the exchange covering her small smile with the book, for some reason the whole thing reminded her of a certain Colonel visiting her lab for no reason other than to watch her. Back in the early days, she thought he did that to keep her under control because he didn't trust her. Now, she knew he did it because he liked to keep an eye on her because he cared for her.

"How are you, Major?" William asked, after uncomfortably clearing his throat. And gaining her attention.

"Uhm… great, I think." She answered blushing.

"And your wounds?"

"Well, according to both my doctors for this situation. I don't have any significant wounds left to heal," she answered with a little smile. Will raised an eyebrow, "They both agreed in separate instances, that I only have a couple of scratches, nothing too damning… The treatment is still on though."

"What? I thought you got the deepest cuts and some broken ribs? And things? I saw you losing enough blood to be… Magnus?" He turned his head towards his boss and partner. "What's going on?" She sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose and then, hit a couple of keys on her computer, clicked something else and she stood up. He followed her every move with his eyes.

"Well, what you just figured out about her is one of the main reasons why you are here, Will. " She walked around her desk and leaned against it. "You once asked me for the truth, and I accepted the challenge. It's not an easy promise to keep, but I will give you access to one of the many skeletons that pollute my closet," she exhaled, "you must have noticed how similar we look, yes?"

"Like dead ringers." He smiled, "I can imagine now how did you look like when the five just started," he commented with a chuckle, making Helen frown. "Because of the blonde hair… I haven't seen you with it," he explained, understanding washed over Helen's features.

"You were blonde?" Sam asked surprised. Helen raised her eyebrow.

"We are going out of topics here, and yes, I'm a natural blonde. I haven't been one for a very long time. Can I continue now?" Sam and Will nodded. "Okay… I guess I should start on the begging then… On 1970, December 29th to be exact, I gave birth to a child. John took her from me hours later by teleporting both out of the Sanctuary."

"He thought she was Ashley…" Will provided, not surprising Helen with his insight.

"Yes."

"Okay… and ..." he encouraged her to talk, but before she could, things clicked on his mind, and he looked from one to the other, "She?"

They were both caring the same expression, a mix of dread and hope, both worrying lower lips. It was quite obvious they were somehow related and that they didn't want to add anything else to what it was just said.

"I… I didn't' know I was abducted," Sam mumbled, loud enough to be heard by both of them, "I didn't even know I was adopted until not so long ago…"

"Wow, so you are… a Magnus?" They both nodded, "Wow, just … Wow"

"This can't leave the room, William," Helen warned. "You can talk with Ashley since she knows about Sam."

"Yeah, I … I kinda haven't told anyone on my team yet; they don't know that I'm, you know? Abnormal…. Only Janet knows I'm different, and she agreed not to tell anyone so I can have a life out there, but I haven't told them about my, our relationship, either…" Sam babbled nervously.

"So, no one else knows…" he asked carefully.

"Nikola knows…" Sam confessed. And Will did a double-take, frowning with the information he had obtained.

"He is her father." Helen provided, seriously. Too seriously for him to consider it a joke.

"What!? I mean, I shouldn't be surprised at all, you always had a close relationship and all… But…" He was making weird gestures with his hands, so she interrupted him before managed to embarrass himself more.

"It's nothing quite like you are imagining, William," she added, a trace of a smile in her voice, "He was the sperm donor."

"The …Oh! Ah!... that makes sense." The women tried hard to keep the fact that he had just changed color several times out of their faces. But he noticed, and for some reason, it made him feel angry. "Why you just didn't tell me before, Helen? I mean, you could have told me about this earlier, I could have helped you to look out for her, comforted you even! Did he…"

"William," she warned. He opened his mouth to keep ranting. She was faster than him. "I won't do this. I won't let you do this." He gulped, he had seen Helen sounding a bit too close to angry, on so few occasions that he could count them with one hand. "You can take what I'm telling you; it should be enough. Do know I'm sharing this with you because I trusted you would behave. And I almost managed to convince her that you would be very understanding of the situation, please, do not prove me wrong."

"I'm sorry, Major, and I'm not trying to make you feel bad, and I apologize for my behavior if you find it shocking. I just don't like secrets, when they can be so life altering." He had the guts to say, the voice tone he used wasn't well taken by Sam but didn't make Helen flinch. Sam wondered, how her eyebrows managed to stay leveled and how what those words tried to convey hadn't affected Magnus at all, or at least not on the outside.

"Don't worry, Will. Can I call you Will, right?" Sam started, as softly as she could. Will nodded, "You seem to know … My newly acquainted mother well enough, and on the other hand, she believes in your ability to read people." She made it sound like a question, even if there wasn't one there.

"What are you saying?" Will asked, embracing himself in a defensive stance.

"You should use that ability to try and read her, this," Sam affirmed making him raise an eyebrow in response.

"I'm not following you, Major."

"I thought you might say that." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Consider this: Yes, she is the one keeping secrets. But then again, she is the one who went looking for a missing child and just found her. She is managing a whole super-secret network than not even the most classified post on Earth had ever heard about, and yes, she has lived more than you and I might live... and at least two of the above comes with secrets, and things you forget to tell. Hell, I can't remember many things of my life, and I've only 33 years to remember, can you remember what you did in all of them?"

"No..." He answered, somewhat pouting.

"I know, I get it. I understand why you want to know…. I know what it feels like to want to know what's going on. My dad is a retired General, there were many things I couldn't know about him, and I was engaged to a special ops officer, and I couldn't even know where he was most of the time. And, my career choice, makes me fitted to understand quite well what is like to have secrets that can't see the light of the day. I know things I can't even tell my brother, for crying out loud... And, so do you. You can go shouting to the winds 'hey people there are abnormals on Earth', no matter how much you want to, right?"

"Right," he mumbled, starting to feel embarrassed.

"But, do you know what is like to have feelings you have to keep for yourself? Because I do, and it ain't pretty. And I'm talking about beautiful sentiments; I can't even start to imagine how terrible it must be losing a child. Nor I want to… Hell! I do not know Helen Magnus, I've just met her, and sure, I do not know all her secrets, nor I will know them. What I must recognize is that I'm honored by her trusting me enough to tell me a handful of them, at any time. I will be grateful whenever she is ready to tell me about them. And, if she is not, I cannot and will not force her to say. Because, at the end of the day, it is her secret, it was her choice and, daughter or not, I have no rights to ask her for more than she is willing to give me… And trust me, Will, neither do you. You know her; you got to share things with her that I never will, and yet, you are the one asking for more… And they don't even start to alter your life as the same confession does with mine… I've just figured me a mother I've never met before… I just learned I'm not your regular human being… And you are the one angry with her because of the life-altering secret she just revealed?"

Will blinked a couple of times and blushed. Sam was right, and he knew it. He was behaving like a spoiled child and have made a scene just because. Yes, he knew Magnus had secrets, and that made sense since her lifespan was longer than his than anyone out there so far. Sam was also right to point he too had secrets. And at the end of the day, whenever one of them felt ready to let a secret out, they would end up telling it to each other.

Of course, his were mostly dumb mistakes he did as any young man. Hers sometimes could be silly or funny, and sometimes something dark which had affected many people's' future. And yet, at times she felt like sharing the rarest, the ones like what he had just learned, the ones that had affected her in more ways than he understood. And those, those were too much to ask, let alone to force out of her.

"You are right, Major. I shouldn't press for more than she is willing to share. I'm sorry Helen, I didn't intend to act like a child. The truth is, I just want to get to know you better than anyone, and in my need, I forgot that knowing you, isn't about me. It is about you. After all, I'm only will be a handful of days in your long life."

Magnus' eyes were full of tears that she didn't spill, she was on the verge of breaking since Sam started to talk. There were so few people who would gladly do what Sam just did, that she found herself unable to speak. Helen nodded to Will, smiled thankfully at Sam and turned around. She needed to recompose herself quickly, she needed her walls up, but this day wasn't allowing her to keep them up.

"So, Sam? May I call you Sam?" he started, trying to change the mood that had settled in the office and mostly to take some of the pressure out of Helen's shoulders and to distract them all enough to allow her to compose herself somewhat. Sam nodded gratefully as an answer, noticing what he was doing, "How do you feel, knowing you are abnormal?" Magnus turned, her eyes wide and her eyebrow raised almost to her hairline, and in an unexpected move, she threw him with a paper ball.

"Don't answer that," Helen chuckled, shaking her head. "He now's better than asking dumb questions, and you could ask the same of him." She sat next to Will and ruffled his hair, and he breathed, knowing by the action that they were okay, "don't worry, he is not a dangerous abnormal, just a highly perceptive one. Sometimes he doesn't use all his advantages."

"I guess not even abnormals are perfect," Sam commented shaking her head.

"Sadly, we aren't. And speaking about strange beings. Tonight, I will grant you and your friend's permission to roam the whole Sanctuary. Or at least, the one entirely under my responsibility, I don't know how comfortable the others will be about strangers in their buildings."

"I see, so… you are unlocking level two?" Sam asked, not quite knowing what level two was. They didn't get that far in their chat.

"Yes, and you will meet all kinds of abnormals." She smiled, "Have you thought about telling them? Or are you going to wait until you know how they will react to 'my secret'?"

"I think… I will see their reactions first. It's confusing, to say the least…"

"I bet… Luckily for me when I found out I was abnormal I was already working for Helen. So, most of my acquaintances were abnormals or already in the knowing."

"You are not helping, William."

"Sorry," he added sheepishly.

"Sadly, you shouldn't keep hiding from them, unless you want to raise more alarms in them."

"Yeah… I should probably go and find them, and figure out if we are coming together like a whole or if just some of us will show up."

"Whatever it happens, if you come up later, I will make some time to give you the full tour around," she smiled at her daughter, and Sam nodded standing up. "Samantha?" Helen's voice stopped her from getting out of the room. "You said Doctor Frasier knows about your DNA. Should I have a conversation with her?"

"Ah…" she huffed, "I don't know…" she bit her lower lip, "what would you say to her?"

"I'm not quite sure yet…" Helen frowned, wanting to facepalm herself for the question, "Never mind… Forget I've mentioned it," Sam smiled and nodded

"If you find words to tell her without telling her I'm abnormal. I guess it will be okay…" she said before, she grabbed her radio and turned away. "Hey, guys… where do I find you?"

"Carter?"

"Yes, sir."

"They've assigned us rooms, Sam. If you get to the dining room, I can come up and pick you," Daniel said, "well… I… Teal'c can pick you."

Will turned the volume of his radio down by then, Helen crooked her head. He turned around in place, to face her.

"Are you sure?" he asked, she sighed.

"No." she affirmed. "I just can't keep them restrained any longer, Will. They are here because they want to be free. And I don't like to have all the windows closed; we didn't spend that much time making a light fountain to be with drapes closed all day long, especially in blooming season… Have you seen all those flowers out there?" she smiled and stood, walking to her seat. "Talk to me, William."

"I… it's just… I don't know… It's quite the risk to let them know it. There's no real way to predict the outcome. You are putting your identity at risk here, for what?" She smiled.

"My identity is always at risk, Will. How do you think I got to survive the 113 years in which there were my past me and myself around? Being me has a price, I'm still willing to pay it."

"What good will this bring?"

"I don't know… A way to see the daughter I thought I would never get to know. A chance to be out there protected by the same Government that's willing to put my head on a stake, and whose President is helping us, because he is one of our own. I don't expect anything anymore William…. I wasted enough years expecting things to happen, and they never quite got the way I wanted them."

"You didn't get the things you wanted?" he snorted.

"I didn't say I didn't get them… I just stated that they came in a different way… Much different from what I wanted as a kid."

"Ah, yes… Her father told me, way back when, when he found out about the serum, that 'things were far different from what she once dreamed of: 'She wanted to get married and have a football team of children's, and grow old with the love of her life…' he said. Of course, I laughed, I couldn't' imagine the first female Doctor from Oxford just wanted something so simple for herself. I couldn't come to reconcile the Helen Magnus I knew, with the youngling her father was painting her to be… But you know, we all were children once."

"A long time ago, Nikola… a long time ago," she added, blushing, but not denying the words her father had said to Nikola. "Did you want something?"

"Yes, I need William for a test… No warning glare, please. I just want to verify the scope of his vision. See if what I've created is what he sees regularly"

"You have two more hours," she warned and then they were out of her hair. She smiled, and then she concentrated on the files she had to read. "Thank you, Henry," she whispered when she finished reading the email that had just arrived.

"Henry?" she called to the werewolf lab.

"Yeah, Doc?"

"Can you set me a secure line to the internet?"

"Want me to ensure the external connection too, Doc?"

"No, don't worry, I'll do that by myself."

"Cool, you have one... details on your screen on a few… use it wisely."

When the connection was all set, she cleaned her security on the other side and followed the lines provided by the other Henry, and soon she was in the Air Force classified files

On the other end of the building, Sam inhaled deeply when she heard the distinct sounds of boots coming closer, trying to put herself in a state of mind that wouldn't give away all her thoughts.

"Hey, it's you," Ashley commented, entering the room. "Have you talked with mom? Come this way I need food; I do hope she did mention the cool things like the health and such…"

"Major Carter, Miss Magnus…" Teal'c saluted them from the door as they were about to cross to the kitchen. Sam gulped, and Ashley smiled, before turning away and rummaging in the fridge, thinking fast how to help with the screw up she just managed to do.

"I mean, she's always looking for people and capable people are hard to find… so, I would hope she went through the important parts of the deal..." she grinned, hoping the big guy had bought her comment. "Teal'c right?" she added, her voice booming out of the fridge.

"Indeed."

"Weird name, but hey, it could've been worse. My dad was called Montague; he went by John though. Teal'c sound way better, if you ask me. So, you've never answered…"

"Ah, yes. I managed to find her."

"Cool. I heard rooms were assigned, do you know how to get there?"

"Indeed, I know."

"Don't stay on my account… I just need some sustenance."

"Didn't you just have lunch?" Sam asked in concern.

"Let's say I've expended all my calories… don't worry I won't get fat any soon." She winked.

"You sure you are okay?" Sam asked in concern, Ashley smiled at her and nodded once, touched by the concern she read in the Major's voice.

"Go… It's quite a walk you have to the rooms. Oh! Can I get my tab back? I kinda need my schedule."

"Sure…"

"If you need something… From any Magnus. Emerg channel will work," she finished taping Sam's radio.

"Sam!" Both Daniel and Janet exclaimed when she entered the room.

"Carter! There you are…"

"Hey… Sorry to have disappeared on you. Doctor Magnus told me she needed to run some extra test on me, because of my injuries and wanted to check how the Naquadah could affect the treatment," she explained, and the members of her team nodded. Janet looked at her doubting a little.

"Just that?" Janet inquired. Sam nodded.

"Yup… she said everything is healing properly."

"You sure, Carter…" she nodded once, "there's nothing wrong?"

"Nope… nothing… I was nervous, though, I'm still somewhat ill at ease. I mean, if she the expert on the subject was worried about how it could affect my treatment… Then imagine how I felt."

"That's why you were so blue during lunch?"

"Yeah…" She nodded and raised her face enough to look up straight into Jack's face. And his expression told her he didn't believe it, not one bit of what she said. "Something wrong, Colonel?" she asked, trying to get a better understanding of what exactly was bothering him.

"I believe I should ask you the same question, Carter… But I won't. I won't push you to talk about things you don't want to." She nodded gratefully.

"You know why Doctor Magnus' daughter was acting strangely during lunch?"

"Nope … no idea."

"Okay… so whatcha think is the big secret?"

"I don't know… I'm looking forward to the meeting, actually"

"Well, if they had all that information about Goa'ulds, I bet, is something fascinating."

"Hopefully is as interesting as is helpful."

"So, are we all going?" Sam asked, trying not to sound so hopeful.

"Watcha think, Carter? Shouldn't we all go?"

"I think it will be for the best, sir. You know how bad things end up when we manage to spread ourselves in unknown places."

 **Sam's POV**

It's later that afternoon when we slowly walk our way to her office as appointed. Somehow, they didn't ask any more questions. Instead, they shared what each of them thought it might be happening here. Jack's rendition sounded a bit too close to Indiana Jones and the temple of doom. And made me smile, I believe that was the whole deal with it though. He does that sometimes.

I knock the door and feel the nerves in the pit of my stomach, and I inhaled deeply. Something in her sure "come on in" makes me feel a little better about myself. Inside, her team awaits. They all look at her as if she had grown a second head, and a bit in awe. Then, they look at us and a mix of disdain, anger and a lot of hope. I gulp.

"Please, take a seat. We are only missing Nikola and Will to start," she explains, and I look around, finding that in fact, the only other member of my newly acquainted family is her. We all hear Nikola before he comes barging into the room, followed by a beet red Will. And he freezes inside when he notices we are all here.

"My… my Helen, your makeup looks fantastic, you are getting better at it," Nikola comments not even batting an eye in front of the crowded room.

"Tesla, shut up!" Will replied. Helen? Mom? Magnus? Well, she rolls her eyes. I find myself and Janet looking at the woman's face, and yes, her makeup looks outstanding. And after seeing the real face beneath it all, and the way it doesn't look like she's wearing that many things on I have to agree with him. For some reason, it is easier to call him Tesla than it is to find a word I'm comfortable calling her.

"Let's go straight to the point," she says, dismissing the little distraction, "I've made some calls, and moved some threads… I know you are the infamous SG1." We open and close our mouths, wondering which kinds of threads she can move, but before we can even start asking, she continues, "I want to clarify the fact that you aren't prisoners in my Sanctuary. In fact, all of you are free to go at the end of this meeting or whenever you feel like it. However, as I've mentioned before, your medication can't leave the building, and that's why I'm not against pleading for you to stay. The decision is ultimately yours; it is your own health interest. Are we clear?" A round of nods follows her words.

"Once you are fully recovered, or if you all decide to leave without the follow-up. Then, my team will return with you to the bowels of Cheyenne Mountain as they were granted the same level of security that SG1 has."

"How in God's Earth?" Janet asked loud enough.

"I still have some good friends," She smiled. "I must confess that by telling you my name, I've placed a significant weight over your shoulders. As I, as many of the people you will meet today, don't exist any longer. However, to let you know what we do for a living and why my name is a weight, you will have to sign NDA forms first. As you must when we go with them."

"NDA's?" The girl, Kate, asks with a frown.

"Non-Disclosure Agreement," we all provide in a monotonous tone, soon we all have a folder in our hands.

"Wait a minute! SG… SG… It doesn't have a relationship with that dig in 1928, Helen?" Tesla asks and the Doctor… Mom… She nods. I frown, what they could know about it? I know they both were alive at that time, could they know about the gate? He smirks, "well, that's an interesting development, I was under the impression they would never make it…"

"Later Nikola. If you are done with the files I can get to the actual point of the meeting," we all read the agreement carefully, actually is very similar to the one we signed when the SGC started, soon folders are sitting at her desk, and she smiles. "Great, as far as I've known, you all wanted to know why the Sanctuary Network exists, you wanted to know."

"What the heck was the damn thing that attacked us in the sewers…" O'Neill interrupts her; I bit my lip. I know that he is not comfortable here, he never is, anywhere… "or why the heck we can't take medicine with us… And if we are not imprisoned then why 'level two is closed.'?" Well, not comfortable seems to be an understatement.

"Well, when she said close level two, Doc asked for a 'level two closING' which means we lock some levels for your safety dude." Henry jumps in.

"And then again we are not prisoners," Daniel says

"And we still don't know about your family line or the way you got all that information," Janet adds

"Or who did you call to make us stay," Jack provides, Teal'c and I remain silent, Magnus smiles. How can she be so calm? How many times did she do this before?

"Well, I figured you would want answers for all of that." She pauses, "after knowing what you do for a living; I can be certain that in your line of work you had seen many incredible things. Au contraire than the SGC, The Sanctuary Network exists to protect the amazing things that walk the earth." The knowing look she has, tells me she knows exactly what's going on at the SGC. "Allow me to start at the beginning, more than a hundred fifty years ago, unknown to most, Dr. Gregory Magnus founded the first Sanctuary for all; it was a small safe house on the underground of his home." Helen smiled remembering the first time she walked down the stairs of her home, to find her father's work.

"It was 1820 when the first refugees came to his door. Later, when his only heir reached her 15th birthday, he passed his knowledge to her. His daughter," he smiled softly, "she was an exceptional young lady who fought against all that was normal in her time. She was the first woman to be accepted on Oxford, and she took the weight of her father's work without thinking twice, and then, she went beyond it," Nikola finished winking at her, making her blush.

"Dr. H Magnus?" Janet asks, and Nikola nods

"The history says that when she took the reins of the Sanctuary refugees would come searching for her from the most distant parts of the world. The British government found out about it, and when something happened that needed the expertise of Dr. Helen Magnus and her friends, they called them in. In return, they helped with funds and ways to make the expansion of the Sanctuary a not so distant reality. The Sanctuary became a small network: Prague, Japan, Delhi, the network evolved to the point that every country in the world had at least one Sanctuary," Will's continues

"How you manage all that? How you keep something so big hidden?" Daniel asks, and I can see he is a point in which he doesn't quite believe what he's hearing not he thinks it is a lie.

"Well, to work, the Network has its government system. We have a Head of the Network, chosen by a Network Council, formed with all the Head of Branches; who are elected by the Head of Houses. Any elected person has a full four-year period after which they can be removed or kept."

"Will," she warns.

"Except if there's any doubt about the attitude of those in control, they can be separated of their charge until further investigation. It's kind of like running a country," Will smiles, "or the world."

"William!"

"And you'll see… The woman over there, the one that, for some reason I've still haven't found, you don't want to trust… She is the head of this house; chairman of the US branch and overall, Magnus is the Head of the network, she has been in charge for longer than any other member has."

She does all of that? And I thought that my job description was enormous. Even though, saving the world is a big task, isn't? She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Wow, how do you manage? It isn't too much responsibility for someone young as you?" Daniel asks

"Well," she smiles, "It wasn't my intention for you to know my position. Don't worry, Doctor Jackson; I have enough experience to be acutely aware of the risks. And mostly, it is my family responsibility," she shrugs. I must say I am amazed.

"It was an excellent history class, but then again, it was just history… what about what this 'Sanctuary for All' crap?" The Colonel says, and I can see that he is starting to lose his temper.

"Sanctuary for all it is not an empty motto," Sanctuary team says at once, Magnus smiles

"Apparently, I've used that phrase too often. Over the years, the Sanctuary had gained access to a vast amount of information not often obtained by standard research."

"So, you steal information, that's great!" Jack adds, and Magnus tilts her head a little as if sizing what to say or rather, how to say it.

"No," she looks at him, "we get information from our sources, and then, we find the most un-disturbing way to share it with the world without compromising the truth about its origins." She squints, assessing him. "I can talk forever about the work we do and how we do it, Colonel. However, I trust you won't feel quite convinced until you see for yourself. Therefore, I will ask you all to follow me. Henry, be a dear and raise the level two lock up. We are going down."

"Sure, Doc?" He asked, not doubting her decision, but … us. She nods. "Ok, Doc..." he disappears, and she starts to walk.

"Are you all coming?" she asks, and we scramble to get to our feet and follow her.

Will and I are the last ones out, and he looks at me because I just shook my head remembering.

"What?" he asks

"You suck at reading people, don't you?" I tell him, and he smiles.

"That's why I went to Psychiatrists, so I wouldn't need to read them because they come to me and they spill their beans out…" he laughed. And I shook my head once more. "Are you coming?"

"Definitively."


	12. Chapter 12

Here we go again!

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter twelve.**

 **Sam's POV.**

It's amazing how fast the woman can walk in heels. I can hear them like a faint heartbeat of sorts, and I wonder, how is possible for a lady who has lived as long as she has to wear stilettos just for the sake of wearing them? I mean, I know if I didn't have to be on combat boots most of my day, I would be in running shoes or barefoot… Will smiled at me, and I'm suddenly utterly aware of his extreme perception gift.

"She does look great on them," he whispers… "the heels?"

"Ah, yeah… I guess."

"I never dared to ask…"

"That's something you didn't ask?" I ask surprised, and he nods sheepishly.

"I like how she dresses," he excuses himself blushing and shrugging, and I must bite my lips to stop myself from giggling.

I see Jack, nodding towards Daniel, with an expression I know too well. It's his 'and…?' face from those rare occasions in which he wants to learn more about the situation at hand. Daniel nods back and hurries his step.

"Uh, where are we going?" He asks, and by the tone of his voice, I can tell he is starting to feel anxious. And understand him. Yes, I know the background, I've seen Tesla's other look and Ashley's trick, but I still feel the anxiety lump in the pit of my stomach.

"As you can already start to see, the level two locking is getting annulled," she comments, pointing to the windows which are slowly opening.

"I don't like how this looks," The Colonel mutters loud enough for us to hear. And what can I say, it doesn't look that good, and sure, we are military people, we don't just go to an unknown place unarmed.

We reach the end of the corridor, and she turns around with a smile, if I should say something about it, I know she trusts in my team as much as my team believes in her. Although, Teal'c does look a little fond of Helen and he's a rather good judge of character.

"Please," She waves in front of the open doors of the elevator I hadn't noticed in there. Strange, how many elevators are? Do they get you to the same place? We look around the thing doesn't look new, and Daniel is inspecting it as if he had never seen one before. William nods at me before he whispers something in my mother's ear and she nods back.

"Such an old elevator," Daniel comments. Well, it does looks right out of a steampunk novel.

"I am fond of ancient things," she explains, "to answer your former question, we are going to the Sanctuary."

"I thought you said we were at the Sanctuary," he says as the elevator stops.

"We are now," Magnus says and steps out, I need to figure how to call her. We walk out into what looks a never-ending corridor.

"For what Teal'c told us, we were in a building somewhere in Colorado… but this, the whole thing doesn't look like just a building to me…where exactly are we?"

"Oh, it's because we are not in it. We are several floors beneath it."

"But the sun…"

"Doctor Frasier… are you familiar with the science called Xenobiology?"

"I am…"

"What about Cryptozoology?"

"It's a pseudo-science…" Helen stopped and smirked.

"And Teratology?"

"I haven't heard of that, no."

"Like from the Greek Teratos?" Helen nods, "It means: deformity, hideous creature, unknown being."

"That's entirely accurate and precisely the reason why we chose to call it that…" She smiles, and she presses her palm against a surface, the surface glows, and the corridor opens. "Here, at the Sanctuary, we gave, give and will continue to provide a home to all the unique inhabitants of the world. The walls of the Sanctuaries, around the world and over the years, have seen many specialties born. Those above mentioned included."

"That's why you have all the patents…" Janet comments.

"Indeed, there are developments we needed to create to be able to explain the, by then, unexplainable. Sciences are taken very seriously inside our walls. If I was to put myself as an example, apart from being an experienced Physician, among other things I am considered the foremost expert in Cryptozoology, xenobiology, and teratology."

"I thought you were the most skilled Xenobiologist out there, " Daniel whispers to Janet, the Doc smirks.

"Yes, that's accurate, Doctor Jackson. For out there."

"That's what Doctors who work as xenobiologists have told me…"

"Xenotech, XBSinth, Xenos or the communities?"

"Xenotech and Xenos… how do you…?"

"Those companies fall under the Sanctuary protection and teaching protocols. Doctors Young, White, King, and Marshall are all Helen's students." Nikola adds as we come to a stop. And it's once the silence finally sets when we look. Two things caught my eyes, the watery reflection of one cage, and the fire like a reflection of another one.

"Welcome to the Sanctuary," she smiles and looks up and around. I can see all the floors we went down and probably another two up, they look like piled cages or those containers used to move stuff from one port to another. "My building is one of the most complexes; it has the capability of containing the most diverse species, like the ones you've encountered. And it's the home of at least a million of different species which can roam free."

"Why are they caged?"

"This is not a zoo, but sadly the creatures in this area need a specific habitat to survive. One that can't be duplicated outside these walls" is then when something in the one with the watery blue content gets all of our attentions.

"Is that a… mermaid?" Janet says bewildered. The creature gets near the glass wall. She is blue, beautiful and has a tail, and I feel completely attracted to it… her.

"She's not dangerous." I hear Helen calming voice as not only I, but Daniel and Janet walk closer to the cage. I see her placing her hand on the glass wall. And I can't help but follow her lead when I turn around, and I see the small nod my mother gives me.

"Are you Helen's lost daughter?" She asks, and I feel her in my head. I nod, thinking how strange it is to hear her voice inside my head, then I listen to a laugh, "Don't worry, Samantha, telepathic communication always seems weird, at least the first time. I must say, Helen pulled a lot of strings to find you, my kind tried to find you, but you weren't seen at sea. We were all starting to lose faith. She is a remarkable person just wait to know her…" she nods at me, her eyes on mine. Then she looks around, "It's better if I leave you now, I'm probably scaring this crew," and as the mermaid swims away, I see Magnus knowing smile.

"My team calls her Sally… after a while she agreed with it…" she looks at Jack who's nearing the glowing red room. "I wouldn't get too close if I were you," she warns, but he does it anyway. And the place gets fired up, Helen sighs. "Are you familiar with the 'elementals?'" she asks

"Elemental? That's folklore…" Daniel laughs, we all frown, "Elementals beings were described by Paracelsus during the Renaissance. He described them as out of the reach of the common form and divided them into four: the Gnome for Earth, the Undine for water, the Sylph for air and a Salamander for fire…"

"Well, my dear Doctor Jackson, you should explain to our easily scared by strangers Salamander why he is not real," Tesla smirked. "I'm pretty sure Afra is going to find it hilarious."

"Why do you keep these things?" Jack asks in a mix of bewilderment, worry and disgusts or maybe is fear.

"They are not things; there are living sentient beings. We call them abnormals, and we have the dual obligation to study and protect them. We learn from all of them and make the knowledge available to the world without them knowing of their existence. "

"Holy Sh..mucks!" Janet exclaimed I'm not too sure if it was in awe or concern. "Wait, Doctor Zimmerman mentioned many sanctuaries around the world… How many of these you got?"

I see her point. How many of these creatures exist? Does the Goa'uld know about them? Did they move these to another planet? I have too many questions

"This is the only one of this kind. However, there are many more Sanctuaries to help the many species which are in desperate need of our help and protection. I could have shown you the beautiful part of my building, alas, you wouldn't be too convinced if I was to show you our plants and reptiles and such… Shall we go back?"

"Yes, this place gave me the willies," Jack says, and I would agree with him. However, strange as it might sound, I feel comfortable here. She smiles at him knowingly.

"That's one of the reasons behind of our secrecy. The world is not ready to know about the real situation of their 'monsters.'" She quoted, "They are barely a notion for the sci-fi and cheap news when the reality is, they've been around for a long time. We do hope that someday normal and abnormals can live in harmony again..."

"You are telling me that these things are running free around the world? Walking next to humans? We should get rid of them all; it's too dangerous…" Jacks says, what would he say if he knows that I am abnormal? Will he want me dead too?

"Don't you think you are rushing that conclusion Jack?" Daniel says pointing to Teal'c. At least I know I can count on Daniel. Maybe…

"Excuse me, Daniel, but haven't you seen what's in that box? Haven't we enough issues with what we go through regularly? Should I remind you we are in some quarantine because of them?"

"I'm sorry, Colonel… I feel I must intervene in here, and the paloraevius is a peaceful species. Like any other, they don't like to feel endangered; we attacked them in their nests, your wounds came from a lack of understanding." She's talking with Jack, but she is focusing behind him. I follow her line of sight, and I is easy to notice she's looking at Teal'c with particular interest. Maybe she knows he is different. "I'm very sorry if that's what you feel about my work." She walks a couple of steps closer, not to him, not threatening either… "There's much more to learn that just only the dangerous area. And as I said earlier," she stops, closer to Teal'c, eyeing him cryptically. What is she planning? "You can go, the health risk is yours. You can't talk about what you heard or saw, or even mention my name… But you are free. As for us, the Sanctuary Team has a date marked for a visit to the SGC…." She never gets to finish it; it seems she didn't intend to because she is holding our big guy in her arms now.

"Teal'c!" I exclaim making Daniel and Jack turn. They walk and grab him from her arms; they look more disturbed by our friend's weight than Helen did… But I try not to analyze that, and instead, I turn to Janet.

"Do you know if he has some Tretonin with him?" She asks, frowning. We all nod no, "we need to get him to the infirmary!" Janet screams then. And actually, we all know Teal'c is a massive dead weight. The guys are trying to pull him up when someone pulls him over his shoulder as if he's just a bag of feathers. And he grunts.

"Old Friend!" Helen sighs alleviated, "we need to take this man to the infirmary," she says and the Big Furry Man grunts and nods… Then he starts to walk. "Will, Ash we are heading to the infirmary. Come as soon as you can." She says into the radio I hadn't seen on her. Not surprisingly for me, Ashley is already there when we reach the infirmary.

"What's wrong with him?" she asks calmly.

"He has problems with his immunological system. He depends on a drug to replace his immune system functions. From what I can see … He is out of it," Janet explains to her surprising us all.

"Did you bring some with you?" Daniel asks hopefully to Janet.

"I didn't know where I was going;" she shook her head, before disappearing into the room where Teal'c now is. Helen and the furry creature are inside, and for the movement I see, they are helping Janet with all the things she needs. Soon, they are all out of the room. "He is stable for now," Janet announced.

"Thank you, Old Friend," Helen says, and the creature turns around and leaves.

"If this thing he needs is in your base, then we have around 3 and half hours between going and returning, plus whatever it takes for you to get what you need," Will explains. I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"The Prometheus is not in orbit… and with that time it should be 5 hours before we can get it from the SGC," I say out loud, thinking of possibilities.

"I can organize a pick up from someone closer to your base… I don't know how long will take you to get permissions granted to someone outside your…" she waved at our uniforms. "But if you said it's an hour and a half for you to pick it, I'd say we can bring it back in 3 hours if your people collaborate a little…" Ashley explains and Will nods.

"He doesn't have 3 hours," Janet adds

"Care to tell me about this Tretonin?" Helen asks, "Do you know the components? Maybe Nikola and I can synthesize something similar for you. If you left me, I could try and help your friend." She offers, and I can see the sincerity in her eyes. I can see why she does this… She cares. She truly cares.

"Sorry, Doctor Magnus. Even if you are as good as you believe you are…there are things that even you don't know," Janet says harshly. I look at Magnus and want to know how the hell she does to keep such a calm composure; she doesn't flinch, not even a hair moves… Maybe the years do make you wiser and patient.

"I do know more than you can think of, Doctor Frasier... I'm quite aware that your friend is not human nor abnormal. I know he is what the Egyptians used to call a Jaffa, and according to our years of research, all of them perished when the self-called Gods claimed their children when they reached maturity, and the larvae weren't replaced."

"How? How do you know all this?" Daniel asks

"Archaeology is one of the biggest hobbies of the Magnus family," Tesla comments, "So I was correct, and you knew…" he asks Helen, she nods curtly. "He is indeed a Jaffa! Amazing! Do you think it would work?" He asks her, and I'm sure as hell I have no idea what they are talking about.

"I don't know," she sighs defeated. "I can't be sure if I don't run tests. We can only try…"

"For crying out loud! You can only try, what?"

"A cure for your friend, of course," Nikola huffs.

"That's not possible, how on Earth you can have a cure for our friend?" Janet frowns.

"We might have one; we won't know until we do some tests, for that I require a sample. Can I take it?" We all nod. "Thank you," both of them smile, then Helen goes into Teal'c's room, and for what I reach to see, she takes a sample of blood. Then she and Tesla start to walk away. "William, will you please contact line 1 and see what can be done to get this medication here a.s.a.p," he nods and walks away in a different direction

"If you all follow us, please, that way you can see we don't just wait until he perishes," Nikola says over his shoulder. I hear her chastising him, but he just shrugs. Ashley offers to stay behind, outside the room to keep an eye on Teal'c. While we follow their lead down a corridor, doors open when we get near, we get to a couple of stairs and go up and soon we are in a round room. There's a ring of TVs and mechanical arms hanging at least two floors above our heads. They have now gloves, and lab coats and they look very scientific to me as they divide the sample into several containers.

"As for your questions, Doctor Jackson… Many years ago, we were on an excavation site. Among the artifacts we encountered, there was a sealed pod. By mistake, the seal was broken… And there was this snake like creature in it... It didn't look menacing. However, the place was sealed, and only two abnormals remained inside. This creature, a Goa'uld, went inside of one kind of abnormal in which they cannot survive on." Helen recounted, and for some reason I knew…

"As the survival instinct kicked in, the creature got out of this abnormal and went to the other one. A different kind of abnormality, in which he also couldn't survive. In the end, it left the two of them… In an attempt to save it or help it, those two took the creature and brought it back to one of the Sanctuaries; there was a tremendous effort on keeping it alive. However, the genetic damage was already done." Nikola added, and that's all I need to know it was them.

They aren't bothered by giving this information away; they move around starting a series of analyzing, measuring, changing and adapting stuff around. We stay quietly looking at them working; I don't know if it is because of the history or the way the mechanical arms move around them as they were some Dr. Frankenstein. Or if it's the way they move around which looks like they've been doing this sort of stuff forever. Well, of course, knowing each other for 100 plus years probably help.

"A few days later, the creature died. After that, a Sanctuary team was dedicated to investigate and analyze it, and what had caused it to perish. There was a compared DNA analysis for both the abnormals and the creature. And something amazing was found: to create the symbiosis it needs to survive, the Goa'uld kills the immune system of the host and become the sole responsible for keeping the body intact, they made themselves irreplaceable..."

"Now, the DNA of those abnormals we mentioned is different, it keeps regenerating itself, no damages, no errors... When the Goa'uld was added to the mix, they kept regenerating cells faster than the larvae was capable of eliminating... And at the same time, they absorbed the part of the DNA of the creature into their own."

"And by doing so, they altered the basic structure of the Goa'uld genes in such a pace that the poor thing couldn't save itself. There was a change coming from this exchange."

"Like a protein marker or something?" Janet asks

"Something like that, yes. And If we are correct," Magnus trails

"And we always are correct," Tesla smirks making her roll her eyes

"He is always this humble… what we believe is that the change which happens in a Jaffa and the former host is reversible using part of what makes the blood of those two particular."

"Wait for a second; you say reversible… Do you mean he won't need his drug anymore?" Daniel asks. And I cross my fingers while we wait for the answer. They turn around, looking at us for the first time since they've entered this room.

"Yes." They both say at once. Before moving on again and continuing with their tasks.

"But…" O'Neill adds.

"We cannot know for sure if this cure will affect him in another way." Helen sighs.

"We are measuring the levels of … Stuff… Genes and such we need to remove against Teal'c current blood sample. Once our calculations are settled, then we just need to pour the blood samples of the two, and this thing will make it work," he said patting the computer in front of him.

"And the blood samples of said abnormals?" Daniel intervenes

"My dear Helen, please tell me you have samples…" he whispers, and I see her writing something down, and then she stops and chewing her lower lip, she says: "God Heavens… no; we don't have any left."

"I was afraid you might say that…"

"Well, yes… there was John's rage…"

"And the Lazarus virus…"

"Getting Ashley under control…"

"Crap.. why it is never easy?" Nikola finishes dramatically.

"Let me get this straight… you don't have a sample?" I said my eyes are widening; I can see Nikola and Magnus shook their heads no. Damn

"Can you get the sample?" Daniel always asks the polite one

"Yes," both said

"Well, how long for getting the samples?" O'Neill intervened.

"It depends, how good are you at getting blood out? " Magnus asks, "Henry and Kate will pass out at the sight of the needle. I can recall Ashley and Will, but your friend will be unsupervised. And I can call a medical team, but that probably will take some time."

"Janet is good; I'm not MD… I only know basics."

"That will do," She nods.

"I'm not letting her drawing blood Helen!" Nikola warns her.

"We need to keep working Nikola…" she explains to him frantically tapping her keyboard, "I cannot type and extract blood at the same time. But we certainly have the ability of typing and get someone else to take it."

"Wait a minute, you two! God! You are even worse than the Colonel and Daniel arguing about nothing," I roll my eyes, my … Parents stop talking for a minute, but they continue fast typing as mechanical arms move quickly above our heads

"Yes?" They simultaneously said as if they were talking with all sense in the world. From what I understand they are the ones we need to draw blood from…

"I can barely insert an IV on a human being; I certainly cannot draw blood of an abnormal, how could I possibly know from where to draw the sample?"

"Oh dear! That's the easy part!" Nikola says not amused. One of the arms puts something in a tray, "I take Dr. Frasier."

"Oh, I knew you would," she mocks reprimand him, "Dr. Fraiser, Sam, would you two, please take the objects that were just laid on the tray and come closer." We do what she asks with a degree of uncertainty.

"So… where are those two?" Janet asks looking to the arms. I think she is half expecting for an abnormal to fall from the sky attached to one of the mechanical arms.

"Oh well … Helen, care to tell them, or you want me to do it?"

"Well, Dr. Frasier you will be extracting Nikola's blood. Sam, you will be obtaining mine. You will need to get it from the leg though."

"You're kidding, right?" I heard Jack asking

"I think they are not kidding Jack," Daniel says, while I kneel and adjust a rubber band a little under her knee.

"Can you see a vein?" She asks me

"Yes!"

"Then, that's from…" I try to push the needle, but it barely scratches the skin, "Oh, sorry. Now," and she inhales deeply, and the needle just moves along her vein. "Just draw a full sample."

"That would make you dizzy," Janet adds, then I hear Nikola saying

"Just draw the damn blood! I am an Abnormal; I don't get dizzy if I get dizzy I'm way too sick."

"Done!" Janet says, standing up. I follow suit.

"Already? I didn't feel a thing! You are good Dr. I like you…" I see Nikola grinning quickly to Janet. I give the syringe to Helen and can't help to ask

"Why from the leg? if I may ask?"

"Logistics, my dear," Nikola answers me, "we cannot type if you are trying to draw blood from our arms."

Seconds later, one arm took both samples and put it on a machine. For what I see is some filtering process. We stand there while machines beeped, mechanical arms moved from one side to another. Time passes slowly in what it seems like an eternity. They point to one of the many monitors, and in there I recognize the name of some of the immune system cells and a number rate growing. I look down just in time to see Nikola storming out of the room.

"Where he is going?" I ask

"He is going to have your friend scanned; you can go with him if you …" she didn't finish the sentence before O'Neill and Janet stormed out of the room. Daniel looks to Magnus and then looks at me. Then he looks around, and after some thinking, he sits down on the floor.

"It's all arranged, Helen. Marcus will be picking the drug, and it will be here in an hour and a half tops. What's happening?" Will asks while entering the room.

"Many things," I say, I am not too sure of how someone would explain all this.

"Scan completed," Nikola says coming back to the lab, "it's such a shame the holographic monitor isn't ready yet."

"What was that?" O'Neill asks

"We need the actual structure of his body, to check for changes which may or may not happen. Thankfully, we got a brand new and oh so expensive software that can show us how the body is composed and give us a better idea of how it works," Helen says.

"We use this software to analyze and try to understand that one of a kind abnormals like Sally who are the last of their species and very much alive," Will adds pointing to one of the screens above our heads. Soon two monitors are turned to where we all are standing. There was Teal'c structure; I can see Nikola making a couple of notes and then, he fixes his eyes on the screen too

"It's that…?" I ask marveled

"Immune system cells being created?" Janet completes me

"Yes," Helen says, I look at her, and she has this huge smile.

"Does it have any other effect? " O'Neill asks

"I believe not; we removed everything unnecessary. The only genes left from our samples are the ones which affect the immune system."

"So you just go a cure for every disease of the world?"

"No, actually this only works for re-enacting immunological system cells on someone of his species. But as helpful and efficient our simulation can be; the only way of knowing for sure is trying. You think he will agree with being a test subject?" Magnus asks. "I won't put anything on him if he doesn't agree. I will try to keep him stable until he gets his drug."

"I think if this works for everyone out there, he will gladly test it, even if it goes wrong," Daniel says, and she turns around to check what we say. Jack keeps her eye for a while, both unwavering. Then he nods.

"I don't know how many of them are still left. And although I can't promise we will save them all," she glanced at Nikola, and he nodded, "we can provide you with this, for an indefinite time. However, I do believe Mister Teal'c needs a chance to answer himself…"

"But wake him up won't make the situations worse?"

"Not if it's only for a few and we manage to put him to sleep again. And definitively, not if this works."

"Kay… let's do it."

It was easier said than done, but, somehow, she manages to bring him back. I have no clue what kind of combinations of things she has put him to make him sleep. I'm sure Janet watchful eye was over her the whole time before, as it was the full-time now. But then, we all take a deep breath when Teal'c's eyes start to flutter.

"Teal'c… Teal'c? Can you hear me?" Daniel tries.

"Indeed, Daniel Jackson… my hearing is quite good," he answers and sounds so tired, even if he just said one of his jokes. "Has my time come?"

"No," I say, between tears I don't even know for sure why I am shedding, "Teal'c, you will not, Dr. Magnus and Tesla found a cure for your problem… If this works, you will not depend on the tretonin anymore," I explain to him as naturally as I can.

"Are you certain of this, Major Carter?" He asks opening his eyes to watch me.

"They believe it will. The test results show a full recovery in your way… "

"It's… even with all the results, it's not possible to be 100% certain there won't be any side effects." Janet explains.

"They said it wouldn't…" I add as if that will change it everything. Teal'c smiles at me.

"But if it works, it will be a real cure? No more tretonin, no more experimental drugs? Will this be available for my family?"

"Yes," Janet said

"Then proceed."

"Why I knew he would say that?" Jack asked from his point in the corner, Teal'c searched for him and nodded, "you heard the man... he wants it."

"Teal'c we are going to put you back to sleep. In case this doesn't work, tretonin is on its way."

He nods tiredly and closes his eyes again. Janet walks to his bedside and applies the sedative she prepared before. We walk out.

"He is willing to give us a chance," Helen affirms and we all nod. "We all want to be free of our prisons…" she says cryptically, before going back to the lab

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" The Colonel wonders out loud.

"When he had Junior, even when free he depended on him to be healthy. He was a prisoner in his body. Now, he doesn't have Junior, but he depends on Tretonin which is a different kind of prison, but he's a prisoner nonetheless..." Daniel whispers. And I'm back in that room, in which I see her real face, and wonder if she feels her skin as a prison. Or if it just all the secrecy or all the responsibilities she has burdened herself with since her 15 birthdays. But before I can draw a conclusion, she returns.

"Doctor Frasier," she calls from the door, and Janet nods. They both go in, Helen gives the needle to Janet, but I can see Janet weariness to do it from here. Magnus gives her a reassuring smile and retakes the needle. She risks a glance toward us, but when Nikola gets in the room, I know who she was searching for.

"I'm sorry, Teal'c…" she whispers to our alien friend, "I don't know if you are going to feel any pain with all the sedatives you have…" We all watch with widened eyes how Nikola brings a crash cart closer to the bed. And once both the crash cart and Nikola are close enough to her, she pushes the liquid into his vein.

"What now?" Daniel asks

"Now, we wait and see," she sighs. And she starts a countdown, for the way they are looking at him, it gives me the impression they did this before. When they reach one, Teal'c's heart rate goes up to the sky; his body starts to shake uncontrollably, and I understand why she called Nikola in.

He places his hands on Teal'c's shoulders, and he fully immobilizes the top part of his body. Nikola has his eyes closed, and by the amount of strength one would need to stop Teal'c's movements and the lanky figure that's my father, I know his eyes are entirely blacked out. My mother checks Teal'c's vitals as if nothing wrong is going on in there, and maybe it isn't. But I feel my nerves skyrocketing, and her eyes make contact with mine. She winks at me, and somehow, I'm reassured. Then he dies, he literally does, his heart stops, but his body doesn't stop trembling. And I see the crash cart finding its way under Nikola. They exchange a quick glance, and she turns it on.

We don't see the jump of Teal'c body when the current goes through him. Nor Nikola seems fazed by having been electrocuted by my mother. But we don't see all this; we don't even question how is possible for Nikola to be alive. Because we hear the monitor outside the room is beeping calmly now, and the up and down of the line is being recorded as normal. They glance at each other again, he releases Teal'c and walks out of the room. She opens a new needle and gets a fresh sample.

"Nikola, will you.." she starts, and he shows her what he went in search of. She smiles gratefully as he adds "I'm on it."

"Should we go to the lab?" Janet asks. Her eyes still not quite believing what she just witnessed.

"No, every single room here has everything we need," Helen says as she divides the sample and places the containers in different parts and machines.

"The main lab is better when we need many hands," Nikola explains as he scans Teal'c's body. Helen chuckles.

"We can all breathe now… his DNA has not changed." I can avoid the sigh of relief that leaves me, and apparently, neither can them, because both sigh happily.

"But… did it work?"

"Of course, after all, I did it," Nikola grins, "well, Helen and I did it." He corrects himself rolling his eyes. Janet raises her eyebrow, and he shrugs and points to one monitor. "That's the new scan, that's the old one." He explains, "Now if we compare both…"

"That's…"

"Yes, Teal'c's immune system is starting to work."


	13. Chapter 13

Hey! I'm back! Thank you all for the reviews, you are fantastic for staying with me :D

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Thirteen**

Inside the room were now Teal'c lies unmoving, the heart monitor is still beeping comfortably as a background sound they didn't think they will find comforting until now. But it is as comforting as the sight of his chest rising and falling as it did for the past hour. Helen watched them intensely for a while, assessing her next move. And then, she decided they already disliked her enough, so it didn't matter.

"Well," she started, clapping her hands together.

They all had searched for the fountain of the sound before their gazes fell over the old Doctor. Not unfazed, she smiled softly.

"I'm in deep need of examining your friend, and I can use the space," she explains, waving her hands towards the sides of the bed where they are keeping their guards. They moved slowly, and she tries not to usher them out as she would with her team. But she fails to avoid closing the door a little too close to their noses for their taste. They glare at her again making her turn around just to avoid shrugging as an explanation.

They are ready to charge at the door, but it's not like they can't see what she is doing. Similar to the ISO rooms back at the SGC, the whole wall between them and her is a glass one. Everything goes silent for a while; everyone just holds their breath for what it seems forever. While unfazed by the glances she is sure she is receiving, she continues her study of Teal'c's condition. The end of her lip curves upwards when the blood test results appear on the monitor, then she turns around to her expecting guests. She walks out closing the door behind her back.

"Well?" Sam asks curiously.

"Everything points to a full recovery." Helen smiles, "and before you ask, Colonel O'Neill. No, I can't be certain of this until more time passes."

"Why is he not awakening?" Daniel asks softly.

"The activation of part of the DNA can be quite painful; he's under enough sedatives to sleep until tomorrow morning." She answered, then turned towards Janet. "Doctor Frazier, once you all are out of here, he will need to have medical exams periodically for a while, to ensure the change remains and it's not just a temporary solution. I'll go with a weekly review for the first couple of months, and increase the space in between until it is reduced to once by year, to avoid having him attached to a facility for long."

"He has medical exams every time before and after a mission," Janet announces.

"Then, I would add the ones needed to your list of test for him. He already will be subjected to several other tests and you will always on top of the situation. I will show you how to perform the additional test you will need to verify there's no change or regressions, and Nikola or Henry will provide you with the software required to obtain the results quickly. Apart from the software, you should have access to all the chemicals needed. If not, we will seek a way to provide you with ours." Jack frowned at that last part.

"Anything else? Can we get back in there?" Daniel asked eagerly.

"Well, The Tretonin arrived, before I joined you in the room. It's the box I left inside; I trust you'll know the right way to handle it. If it needs to be refrigerated, there's a freezer in there, fourth door to the right," She pointed to the back of the room. "And yes, you can enter now."

"What about… the sanctuary?" Daniel inquired, remembering what they were doing before Teal'c passed out.

"I'll take we won't need to resume our presentation until your friend fully recovers."

"That will be nice, yes."

"There's not much left to know, just a lot to show. And I'm assuming, at least one of you will be by his side until he wakes up. Am I correct?" SG-1 and Janet nod at once, making Helen smile. "Good, there's always someone from my team awake or easily woken. Just call the radio if there's a change in his condition. I'll take you all know how to do a basic examination, pulse, skin, etcetera?" They all nodded, "It's all set then. If any of you spots rashes, skin changes, and even, eye color changes, please do call." Doctor Magnus finished and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked before she can help herself.

"You have the situation under control in here, and I'll gladly return to my other responsibilities. Including explaining why I called for a massive movement for a medication that's not needed any longer."

"Are leaving us here? Without supervision?" Daniel asks a bit incredulously.

"That's what I'm planning, yes. Should I keep you supervised?" She asked, raising her eyebrow. "The lockdown is still off. However, if it makes you feel better, I can bring it back to level two, or even level one for this floor only. However, I do consider you are all adults capable of behaving."

"You mean, we are free to roam?"

"You are free for everything, Doctor Jackson, except to get rid of my protégés. Or touch things you aren't supposed to."

"Are you sure?" Sam asks in concern.

"My dear Major, half of the beings who are in here, are quite capable of defending themselves. What would worry me the most, is them hurting you if you make them feel threatened. Also, the things to worry about are protected by biometrics or voice activated. Or both. So, yes. I'm sure."

"Is that a threat?"

"Far from it. I'm just pointing your reality. Your weapons are stored and will be returned in time. Our weapons are secured. And I'm confident you don't want to try and fight Afra in hand to hand spar. Fire elementals are quite difficult to contain."

"How do we get out of here?"

"You are two rooms away from the one you woke up to, and the infirmary lab Doctor Frasier used to check you all. Therefore, you should know how to return to your designated rooms. If not, as I said before, there's always someone awake around here."

"What about Teal'c?"

"Well, your friend is stable and on a good track…"

"But shouldn't you give him, I don't know, more tests?"

"The only test I need to run is to verify his biometrics are stable and his DNA not mutating again. That's all set. And I have an alarm configured in case there's a change in his condition. If that happens, I'll be the first to know."

"Then we are good, thanks!" Daniel nods.

"Alright, I should go now. The sun will be off in a couple of hours, and there's much to do around here. If you find yourself interested, there's a magnificent light spectacle at nights." She added cryptically. "Good evening," they watched her disappear in the opposite way she had pointed them.

"The sun will be off in a couple of hours?" Jack questioned in a mock British accent. "Shouldn't be the sun will be down, or the sunset will start?"

"Well, she did mention us being below the building..." Daniel pointed walking towards the room.

"But there's the sun out there! I think she might be a few fries short of a happy meal," Jack commented.

"I don't know, sir. She looks quite normal to me"

"Haven't you heard, Carter? She's not; she's not human."

"Yeah, I got that, sir. Teal'c is not human either." She gulped after the glare she received, "How are we going to proceed?"

"We can take shifts. Two of us by shift sounds like a good plan to my ears."

"Two shifts of two, one's awake. One can sleep. That looks good. I can stay with Janet now, sir. You should probably go, get some food and relax and return later."

"Sure, Carter. We will be back in 8 hours?" She nodded. Jack explained to Daniel how they were going to proceed and dragged the archeologist out of the room and in the general direction of the kitchen. Janet and Sam walked towards Teal'c room and pulled the couple chairs closer to the bed. The Doctor kept a close eye on both the patient and her friend.

"What's that you are not telling me, Sam?" Janet asked after a while.

"Nothing." The Major muttered.

"She told you something about your DNA, didn't she?" Janet risked. "I mean, they didn't show their DNA's, but after what we saw," she gestured towards Teal'c bed, " I don't think it looks quite like anything we've seen."

"I…" Sam tried, but just shook her head, and raised her eyes to the ceiling.

"Man, I would love to get my hands on their DNA to check out what's different in them," Janet sighed, Sam looked at her as if she had grown another head. "It's just a dream, Sam. I won't ask, nor I will try to force a needle down her arm. Besides, I don't think I will go in easily."

"Yeah, I don't believe that either…." She trailed, remembering how she couldn't break the skin with the needle until Helen told her to do it. Janet's eyes remained in her.

"She wants you to stay, right? To study you?"

"No, she doesn't. "

"Are you sure, because she seemed rather interested in you."

"Yes, I'm sure, she doesn't want to study me."

"But she wants you to stay?"

"I…" she tried, but then she just closed her mouth again with a sigh. Janet understood what she wasn't saying.

"You want to stay… you want to know if you are something to be studied."

"No… Janet, I don't want to be investigated. And no, she didn't, she's not going to study me!" She shouted, and walked away, "I'm sorry, Janet… I shouldn't scream to you."

"Sam..." she said, reaching for her friend's shoulder with a hand, "I'm here, whenever you want to talk. And I'm here if you don't want to do it either."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

They changed subjects, and then, at some point, Kate brought them something to eat. Not too long after, Henry went down and gave them books and computers. And Will came to check if they needed something else and pointed them to the bed in the other room in case one of them wanted to sleep. Before they noticed, their time came to an end.

They heard the sounds of boots walking closer, and half expected them to be from another member of the Sanctuary team. Janet jumped out of bed, and half asleep joined Sam who had placed the notebook down on the chair beside her. They watched as Daniel and Jack strode down the corridor and towards them, and they walked out of the room to join them. After a quick greeting, Daniel went straight into the room in which Teal'c was. Jack looked a bit more tired and disheveled.

"Carter? A word?" Jack asked she nodded.

"I'll explain Daniel what he has to do in a few hours; I'll take you will be comfortable getting him telling them to you?" Janet inquired, and the Colonel nodded in confirmation. The officers waited for Janet to close the door behind her before they turned to each other.

"Carter…" Jack started, making her flinch, "Sam… I need to know we are okay."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw how you looked at me when I said they should kill them all… and you did remind me Teal'c is not human either…"

"Oh! That…" She trailed nervously.

"I feel some of them are too much of a risk," Jack confessed, passing a hand through his hair. "We already have a bunch of snakes we can't control running havoc outside."

"And you don't trust Doctor Magnus to care for the ones in here; you don't think she can keep them in control."

"I don't trust her, no. She seems a bit too young to be dealing with this kind of responsibility, Sam…" She bit her lower lip. "What?"

"So was I when they placed the development of the gate code in my hands. And I was still 'young' when everyone trusted the safety of the universe in our hands. Jack, I wasn't even 30 when we jumped into that ship and avoided the colonization of Earth." She told him, making him sigh. "So, why seeming young or being young has to do with being capable? Since when age and capability go hand in hand? And don't you dare to say since birth, because that's not true. The ability of one person has nothing to do with age and everything to do with the being. What if her innocent and young face keeps hidden a remarkable brain and an extra ability to control things we didn't know existed before? I mean, yes, she looks like someone in her thirties, but do we know how long has she been in this? What if she started taking care since she was 20, that gives her at least ten years of experience, ten years of which we never knew anything about this!" He grimaced.

"I get it!" He said mostly to stop her tirade, "You like her… Crap, you like being here." He affirmed.

"I do…" she accepted quickly, "However, I love the SGC and my job…"

"Did she… They… Offered you one?"

"Sort of…" she sighed, Helen hadn't, she told her the doors were opened whatever she chose to do. Ashley kind of told her to stay around. "There were some comments about how useful would be to have someone with my skills around, yes. No formal offer whatsoever, not that I'm planning on accepting it either."

"Good," he sighed in relief, "and we? Are we okay?" He asked worried, he did care about her. Hell! He loved her, but sometimes the differences between them were just too many, and he often wondered if that breach wouldn't be insurmountable.

"I can't change the way you feel about them, Jack. If someone can, is them. They can show you they are not half as bad as you believe they are. And that, well, knowing you I know it will take time. And it doesn't matter what you think or feel. I understand you worry about a what if that won't be in our hands if it happens. I confessed once that I care for you, when I did, I already knew that part of you that's overprotective with his world and it didn't change my feelings. I can't change how I feel either, not just because of this…"

"So… we are okay?" He asked dubiously.

"Yes… we are okay," she smiled, and he knew they were because it was the one reserved for him.

"Will you tell me what's been bothering you?" He risked, she smiled at him then sighed. He had known the answer before she uttered the words.

"No, I'm sorry… There's a lot on my mind right now. Nothing to worry, just a lot," he raised his eyebrow but didn't push further.

"There's always a lot on your mind, Carter. And you pulled through every time." He added, giving her a comforting smile. "Now, go… shush! Go to sleep, Major! Don't make me make it an order!" He joked making her giggle.

"Night, sir!" She called and went to find Janet before disappearing towards their rooms.

 **SAM's POV.**

I wake up for what it feels like the millionth time. I tried to sleep, I did. And I just woke up wondering what would have been the outcome of my attempts had Jack made an order out of it. My thoughts make me laugh.

I consider my options, I can try to sleep again, but I'm quite conscious that tossing and turning was useless until now. So, option one is, repeating the cycle of trying to fall asleep only to wake up again after not more than 40 minutes. Speaking of it, I check my watch and sigh, around 35 minutes passed since the last time I did the same. That gives me another twenty minutes of sleep, and that adds to a little less than four hours of pseudo decent sleep. More than enough if I can find some coffee in the next six hours.

In nights like this, I hate my brain.

It just won't shut up.

The thirty minutes' break, only happens if I'm exhausted. It feels more like a blackout than real sleep. Is almost like my body shuts down the energy flow to the brain and as it gets relaxed, the brain gets back the control slowly, and images start to appear. Then, dreams start. And finally, it's like it realizes that the dreams are related to the question that is popping up in my mind, and when those are too much, I wake up.

Once I'm awake, and in the dark, the fight initiates again. Until I finally give up and start the day. The disturbing thing is, I will remain like this until I manage to answer the questions that are annoying me.

I push the sheets away and walk to the wardrobe that exist in the room, and in which I've found the clothes I'm currently wearing. But as I can't roam the Sanctuary in shorts and a tank top, I find something else to wear. And I remember how Daniel, Jack, and Teal'c had looked in clothes which weren't theirs. How had they known they would fit them, us, so well? I shiver as I remember how well Jack looked in them. Then I shook my head. There are more things than how he looked.

I walk out of the room and into the darkened corridor, they haven't exactly given me the grand tour, and yes they have mentioned we are underground. Which with a sun shining out there as it did earlier, I find quite difficult to believe. I guess I should ask for the tour, and they can explain some more about how the subterranean thing works. I mean, I work 26 floors under the base of a mountain and it ain't this pretty.

Before I notice, my feet have dragged me in front of the doors that are easily recognized as Helen's office. And there's light at the door, so I knock. There's no come in, but she did mention I could come in whenever I felt like. So, I open the door and enter, looking around cautiously, my excuse and apology ready to go out.

It is empty, though. The light comes from a lamp at her desk. I guess it is one of those you leave on to find your way out of the room.

"She went to bed a while ago…" Someone says, and I jump a little out of fright. "My apologies, I didn't want to scare you." I turn around to find my biological father staring at me with a mischievous smile on his face.

"What makes you think I was looking for her?" I ask, and I don't know how I manage not to facepalm myself when he chuckles.

"You are at her office…" he points, and I feel the blush burning my cheeks, "She's a light sleeper, a knock on her door and she will be up for you. Want me to show you where it is?"

I nod yes before I fully understand what've agreed, and he is at my side faster than I'm capable of processing. The wink and the smile he gives to me point to him showing off his skills. Then he walks to the door and opens it, waving for me to go out first. He goes back to the desk and turns the lamp off, before walking out and closing the door behind our backs. I take a couple of steps in the general direction I remember making when I went in search of her room earlier.

"I know you went to visit her earlier. If you know where her room is, why did you accept my offer?" He asks in what I will define as his curious glance.

"I don't know for sure…" I admit, and he grins, "but if you knew I know, then why did you offer?"

"Ah… to tell you the truth, I don't know. I guess it is my subconscious way to say I do want to spend some time with you and getting to know you."

"I'll guess my subconscious agrees with your subconscious," I smile, and he nods, and we both stop talking. It's not uncomfortable, which is good for me.

"How did they take it?" He asks carefully, stealing a side glance. I sigh.

"I don't know. I'm not sure… I think Daniel took it well enough; Janet, she liked what you did and want to know how it works, you know, want to know the details, she won't ask though."

"Good… She looks like a curious one. And your Colonel?"

"Jack doesn't trust easily; I don't know how this will result once we go back." I finish worrying my lower lip.

"Don't worry," he grins, "we survived worse than three military men, one archeologist and an alien who had all willingly signed NDA's."

"Is there something worse?" I chuckle at his joke. I guess now I know from where the twisted humor comes.

"Well, there was our last experience on that sewer, the whole abnormal debacle, a sickness designed exclusively for abnormals, being electrocuted by Edison, WWII, WWI, Victorian Era, no internet, no electricity." He counts with his fingers until he reaches nine and then stops, "I can dare you to name anything in between our birth and now, that we hadn't survived." He grins smugly. I try to think of something he hadn't mentioned in his short list, and the silly movie comes to my mind.

"The Titanic," I frown. His whole demeanor changes before he adds simply.

"Touche!"

"I never thought it would be that easy."

"Well, I did say 'we.' And I wasn't in it. Your mother, though…"

"She was on it?" I ask surprised.

"Worse, she almost didn't survive that one."

"How? I mean… I know how it happened…"

"She was coming to visit; she announced it is telling me she had an important thing to do and couldn't be postponed. That was the one ship that was going to bring her on time; I asked her not to come in it. But her stubborn self embarked in it, and she was too close to never make it."

"But…"

"Sally," he provides as if that explains it all. "Back then, Sally was at the London Sanctuary; she asks to be where Helen is. Anyhow, she told Sally about the trip, but as it was a cold water trip, she couldn't follow the ship. Therefore, she announced it to her family."

"I thought Sally was the only mermaid…"

"She is now, back then there were many of them. Alas, the crash happened, and Helen being her, tried to save everyone, she pushed woman and children and even some man inside the boats giving her seat away every time until there were no more boats left. There was nowhere to go but the water." He grimaced, "When the merefolks saw that many people in the water, they divided themselves, some when trying to find her in the boats, and most of them stood behind attempting to find her in the water…"

"And they found her…"

"Yeah, Sally shared that image with me, I shall confess still terrifies me. She was barely alive, still trying to keep herself afloat tiredly. They grabbed, helped to keep her afloat, and one found something to make noise with, they tried to warm her up until the boat came too close. Aided by night, one positioned beneath her and waved her hands. And she was rescued. The conclusion was that she managed to remain conscious long enough to be rescued. She was unconscious until they arrived at the port. She was the last person taken out of the water."

"That's…" I can't come up with words to explain it.

"Yes, I know. We had an awful discussion after. Helen took all my warning and complaints before she simply grabbed another boat and returned to Europe…" he sighs.

"You love her, don't you?" I dare to ask.

"Let me tell you a secret… every single man in her life is a bit in love with her," he whispers

"Really?" I ask incredulously.

"Yes. Trust me; I've met a long list of them." He grins, "I'm not the first, and I won't be the last. I do have a request for you..."

"Tell me."

"Well, I know you have plenty of questions to ask. I'll just want you to tread carefully, as I've mentioned there are plenty of things we survived. And most of them, well, nobody knows about them anymore, they are attached to a past that hasn't belonged to them."

"But it did belong to you…"

"Yes."

"Will you answer if I ask you?"

"I might. I can't share her secrets with you; those are hers to share. I can share the histories and moments we lived through"

"Thanks for offering, Tesla."

"No problem, Major…" He winks at me, and I'm glad I accepted his offer. I was afraid he would try to replace my dad, but he didn't even try. Maybe they do have more insight than humans in this kind of situations. Or perhaps, they are just old enough to understand people better.

"Here we are … Knock and go in. Henry built an alarm that sounds were there's a knock. That should be enough to wake her, wait for her in the seating area. But if you don't see any lights turning on, then knock the inner door twice and count to ten. If the lights aren't turned on by then, open the door and walk to her bed and just place a hand on her arm, and she will jump."

"Uh… I should probably just wait until the morning,"

"Magnus women and timing," he chuckles. "Darling, it is morning." And then, he knocks, opens the door and shoves me inside. "See you around!" I hear him say while I try not to trip over my own two feet. The door is already closed, and I only have an option, follow his instructions or return to my room.

"I'm already here," I mutter.

I look around, but there's no light on. I knock the inner door, twice. And nothing happens. I doubt a little before I dare to open the door. Just a tiny slit, no lights.

I sigh, and force the door open, enough to enter my head. And yeah, there she is, lying in her bed. Then I remember, there's Will in her life. Crap. I can't help myself from walking forward hoping it is her. I crept slowly and silently until my leg finds a chest that appears out of nowhere and I swear out of pain. There's a quick shuffling on the bed.

"Talk about light sleeper," I whisper, rubbing my leg.

"Helen?" I turn my head to find a sleepy, bare-chested Will sitting in bed.

"No… it's Sam,"

The way he moved to cover himself would be hilarious if this weren't the most awkward situation in a daughter's life. Yeah, and of course my brain chooses now to remind me Helen is my mother and Will is her partner. Yup, that's exactly what you don't want when you are in their room, and the man is covering himself as if I hadn't seen a male chest in my life.

"I… I was looking for her, Nikola told me she came to bed…"

"Ah, yes. She did…" he checks the bedside clock, "four hours ago." He rubs his face with one hand, keeping the sheet high over his chest with the other one. "So… you are a Magnus…" he says as if that makes sense at all, I raise my eyebrow and he waves his hand at me, "that would be another sign of it. I'm talking about the eyebrow and the fact you are awake."

"I couldn't sleep," I justify.

"Alas, you don't need that much sleep, do you?"

"Not really…"

"I'll take you found Nikola at her office, and since there's no music… she's probably at the pond," he offers with a bad accent. "If you give me a few, I can take you to her."

I take that as my cue to leave the room unscathed. Or almost.

"Ah, if you want to see something while you wait, there's a couple of albums in the library. They are intriguing."

I smile gratefully at him, before turning around and almost running out of the room.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey, People! I'll be traveling again next week. I'm hoping I'll get to post the next chapter during it. Anyhow, I guess this one is long enough to make you all happy :P

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Fourteen**

He found her curled up in one of the sofas in the seating area outside the room. Her eyes were scanning slowly, but surely the pages of one of the many albums that existed in Helen's library. The captivated way she caressed the pages before turning them wasn't something unexpected. He had a chance to go through them, with the same expression a mix of awe, admiration, and incredulity.

Many of the pictures by themselves weren't NatGeo front pages by far nor Museum worth, but they were quite astounding due to the history they recounted. Yes, Helen had a lot of history in her life, and she had somehow made sure to keep a photographic memento of it.

Thus, there were pictures of many talented people, people who got to be recognized everywhere, and there also were plenty of pictures of individuals unknown to anyone except her. They were happy memories, memories of distant places and other times. And they were some awful memories of places that are now long gone. Moreover, it collected not only the history of the places and people she got to know from afar. But true to her own personality, there were people she knew and cared for; people she called by their names and who was there for her as much as she was there for them. And hidden among several tomes of picture after picture, there was the painful truth that not only had she lost them all. But she was going to continue losing them.

He gulped because the idea alone made him incredibly weary, not only for the amount of pain she was able to handle but because at some point, he wouldn't be more than one photograph hidden in her room.

He shook his head to focus and get away from the despair which threatened his mind. Collecting himself, he cleared his throat to gain her attention.

"It's quite amazing, isn't?" He asked with a smile.

"Well, to tell you the truth…" she closed the album and sat straight, "if I didn't know better, I could try and convince myself they are photoshopped by a professional. Alas…" She trailed, "did she meet all of them?" She asked when the album returned to its rightful place.

"Oh, she knew and knows way too many people." He waved and pointed her towards the door

"Jealous?" She asked jokingly, getting out of the room.

"Sometimes, yes. Have you seen her?" He asked pointedly, with a mischievous smile, "Besides, it's not that she knows them from afar, we are like a million of us running around, and she knows each of us by name." He pointed to the right side of the corridor, and they started walking.

"I believe that's what a good leader should do."

"Perhaps. I do know that learning your name, no matter how low in the chain you are, is something an exceptionally good person does."

"Millions, you said? She can't possibly know all of their names…"

"Oh, but she does, she knows names, birthdates… From some of them, she knows their entire health history. It's incredible, and surely, it must be hell to keep all that stuff in your brain." He joked making her chuckle. They entered an elevator, and he marked back to floor -1. "I wouldn't want to trade places with her, even if knowing all those people means I'll have them all if I need them."

"What? Why not?" Sam frowned.

"It's quite simple, take for example the album you were watching, it's thick with all those people she knew. Great people, yes. But you know what they all have in common?"

"I'll assume they weren't all abnormals. I'll go with knowing her."

"No, they weren't all abnormals, there's something besides knowing Helen…"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"They are dead… All of them. That's why I don't want to be her… I can't imagine having to deal time and time again with the passing of loved ones. I mean, it took me forever to move on after my mother's death. I can't start to understand what it must feel like to love someone and bury them and then love someone else and see them wither away while you remain exactly like the first day they met you..." he gulped.

"I didn't think of that… it must be difficult being her."

"Yeah, I think so. We just try not to think of it; Helen doesn't delve much into it either, she just goes on. It's not like she has much of a chance either." He sighed, "You know? Sometimes, I look at her and wonder if she will remember me when I'm gone…" he added with a sad smile.

"So, you and her…" She wriggled her eyebrows.

"Ah, I was hoping to avoid that conversation, but I guess I walked right into it…" he chuckled. "What do you want to know?"

"How? Why?"

"Like most of the people in her albums… She saved me. Not in a romantic way, but she saved me, you know?" she stopped. "I killed her too…" he waved, signaling her to keep walking, "I had to. Then she asked me to die, and I did." She snorted. "And after all that, we found each other"

"If you don't want to answer, that's okay."

"No, for real. I swear all I've said is true. Explaining our relationship is complicated." They took a couple of steps in silence. "When I was a kid, I was camping in the woods with my mom; there was a creature on the loose and Helen, somehow, managed to save me. The creature is imprisoned in the area you visited earlier. She could have saved both of us, but my mom… She wanted me alive, and instead of waiting for them to do their thing, she told me to walk towards 'the lady' when she started to run. And I stood rooted to my spot and the creature saw me as the easy prey. Helen ran for me and pushed us out of the way; my mom was still running, so it went for her. I remember the scream and then a couple of shots. Helen grabbed me and pulled me against her to prevent me from seeing what happened. She started to walk away, and next thing I remember is being in a car and then at my dad's house. Helen told me to be good, to stay there until my father came for me. Magnus pressed the bell and then she disappeared into the dark."

"I know she stood behind until my dad opened the door, and that, she would have picked me again if he didn't and try later. But the door opened soon, and I forgot all about her until I saw her. Her face brought out the memories, and that's why I pressured her to tell me the truth about herself." He shrugged, "She also shed some light into my memories. Anyhow, your mother, biological mother; she's the kind of person who can't stop worrying about things and individuals. I didn't know back then, but she followed my career from afar and made sure I wouldn't waste my life because of my encounter with abnormals. Then, a few months ago, when I was trying to figure out some accounts, I learned that the company which funded my entire education is one of the companies she placed out there to help us with the expenses. I own her my life and education."

"She told you that?" Sam raised an eyebrow. He chuckled at her expression, making her roll her eyes.

"No… I'm sure she suspects I know, although, she never brought the subject up again, nor did I."

"How did you get here?"

"She contacted me when I was still at the FBI, I was the real life spooky Mulder," he chuckled, "there was some kid Ashley, and she was following, I was trying to figure out what happened and by doing so, I went in the middle of her and her car. She took me to the hospital, and I remember her distinctly telling me that it wasn't precisely the way she imagined for us to meet again. Then, she offered me a chance to see this world, the real world not many people get to see, she showed me the Sanctuary and offered me a job."

"And you never left," She commented with a smile.

"I did for a while, not because I wanted to. For almost five years I worked with her side by side. She needed someone to trust. Someone to keep an eye on things if she wasn't around, she said, and I laughed. However, I became her protégé…"

"And the killing her?"

"Sally received a distressed call from her folks before it all went silent. When we got there, we found only the remains of all of them, and when she was trying to figure out what the hell happened, the parasite which caused them to go insane with rage entered her. Helen had a headache, and she's never sick, she blamed it on the pressure in which we were. And then we were going lower and lower, and the tin can was barely holding it together, while she was herself, she asked me to kill her creatively. I locked her in the pressuring room and took the oxygen away. It was awful, she regained her consciousness at some point, so I watched her die. The creature left her the moment she collapsed. I froze the thing to avoid it from try and grab me, and I brought her back… A study of the remains showed her body was making the effort of killing it, however, due to the conditions we were at, with the submarine collapsing to the pressure, we wouldn't survive long enough for it to die on time."

"Holy Hannah! And then you died?"

"Yes... There's a long and complicated history in between. But to make it short, I needed to have an out of body experience to find an abnormal. She explained the risk of the situation, both if I did it or if I didn't do it. She swore me she wouldn't let me go for long, and I trusted in her… She kept that one. I guess we are even in that department now." He joked.

"Is that when you knew you love her?"

"You sure like to stick to the big guns," he chuckled, "the first time I saw her, I liked her, I felt attracted to her, how couldn't I? She is beautiful and way out of my league. She's entertaining, and funny and witty and has a weird sense of humor. She cares deeply, even if she tries not to. And before I knew it, the attraction I felt wasn't only physical.

"And you asked her out…"

"God, no! As far as I knew, she wasn't interested. Helen never hinted a thing. Then, here I was puppy dog following her around, and Watson and Tesla arrive and, then John joined to the mix, and I get to see her first boyfriend and this guy who flirts with her non-stop, and she flirts back. And this other guy who can understand exactly the way she thinks and is way ahead of me in the visual department. I saw her candidates, and I certainly didn't fill the bill."

"But you do."

"Now… But there's no Druitt nor Watson. I only get Tesla annoying me." He smiles, "as I told you, I know they love each other, and in a blink of an eye I might lose her to him. I understand that, and I will be forever grateful for she allowed me to see how deeply she feels, how vulnerable she can be… She showed me a side of her that not many have seen"

"Like?"

"Well, there are moments when she opened to me out of sheer pressure. When Ashley went missing or when she died. I saw her crumble when she lost Watson and again when Druitt was sick… I saw her beat, bruised; I saw her sick, death sick… But, above all that, she has allowed me to see her sleep. And I don't think there's a moment in which you can be more vulnerable than then."

"For sure, I don't feel comfortable with people watching me sleep, alas, there's no other way when I'm in missions. It's allowing them to take care of me, or the possibility that my lack of sleep mess up the whole thing and get us all killed because of bad decisions are made under adverse circumstances. So, I'll agree it takes a lot of trusts."

"Anyhow…"

"You didn't explain why you left..."

"She kicked me out of the Sanctuary and sent me into the hands of her enemies… Having me there for them meant an insight I wasn't giving. For her, meant not telling me a lot of things. I didn't understand. At first, I thought it was a way of punishing me for having a life. Back then I was dating Abby, mostly to keep Helen out of my mind; I ended up almost marrying Abby."

"Wow…I'm … I'm dating a cop. Not the man I love, but the next best thing."

"Don't do it, trust me. It isn't worth. It's a lot of pain for you, he won't ever be the person you want, and a lot of pain for him, because they know, they know they aren't the one. It's not a nice feeling, even if Helen does love me, I will never be Nikola."

"Hum… I'll think about it."

"We are almost there," he said, and it was the first time she realized they were out of the building and walking around a grassy area, she looked up, and she didn't see not even one star, but the moon was shining brightly. "That's not the real moon, in case you were wondering"

"I was… how?"

"That's a question for Magnus, Henry or Tesla. I know it works, during the night is white light and gives us, the outsiders, a belief that we are indeed under the moonlight. During the days, the orangey light and the warmth it produces, makes you believe that, if you look up, the sky will be blue. The clouds are real, something about the ecosystem of this side being able to keep it out there."

"That's awesome!" She looked up. "I'll guess I need another conversation with Nikola," Will huffed.

"Sadly, I can't help you with that one." He winked, "Nah, really, Nikola is a good guy, a very annoying good guy. You have something of him in you, so he will be less annoying to you than he's to me. You know, I've been talking non-stop, since you woke me up, and not once you mentioned what's been keeping you up?"

"I… it's a bunch of different things."

"Like your Colonel… He's the man you love. He does love you back, I've noticed." She blushed.

"It's complicated."

"No, it's not. We make it complicated; love is quite simple. You can talk to me; it will be between us. Medical and Patient confidentiality and all that crap." he winked, making her snort.

"You are right. But simple or not, it just can't be." She told him as he came to a stop.

"Military policies?" She nodded.

"Will, can you stop harassing the girl?" Magnus' voice came over the far away noise of a cascade.

"I'm not harassing anyone, Darling," he laughed.

"Samantha?" She asked pointedly.

"He's not, I swear," Sam grinned, and Helen squinted, looking from one to the other. "So, this is the pond?" Sam asked to change subjects.

"The pond?" Helen looked at Will with her eyebrow raised.

"See… That's what I've told you," he pointed to the expression making Sam laugh. Helen rolled her eyes.

"What are you both doing here at this time of the day?"

"This time of the day? Really?" He gave her a pointed look, and she shrugged with a smirk, "Well, Samantha…came looking for you, scared the bejesus out of me. Are you planning on getting out of there?" Helen was comfortably floating in the water.

"You should join me the water is perfect."

"Join you in your secret place?" She snorted

"It's far from secret if you both are standing in here."

"There's that too… I'm going back to bed, some of us do need to sleep to survive, and coffee can only help so much."

"You and your caffeine addiction, William. Go, you have at least another 3 hours, before you have to make an appearance."

"Unless you need me now?" He offered, wiggling his eyebrows. Helen shook her head, laughing.

"You are incorrigible, William. Off you go!" He grinned and turned around.

"Good night Samantha!"

"Night and thanks, Will," Sam added, before waving him off.

She saw Helen swimming to the other end of the natural pool and disappeared in what looked like a cavern. Sam used the moment to notice how breathtaking the outside was. There were brown mountains around, contrasting with the green of the grass. There were flowers everywhere, ranging from the typical white to fluorescent ones; such colors would have surprised her if she hadn't seen them in other worlds.

There was a small river which started in the natural pool, the water was clear, and she could see the floor bed, and the fish or water creatures moving along it. The sounds of the cascade she had heard before were louder towards the direction Helen had followed, and out of curiosity, she walked towards it. Inside of the cavern, the pond started under the stream of a 12-foot waterfall and it was dimly illuminated by low human-made lights, enough to see, but not enough to be considered bright. Helen chose that moment to emerge from the water, using a set of rocks which served her as stairs, smiling at the open-mouthed woman standing close to the entrance.

"Come on in, and sit here." Sam nodded and walked towards the boulder Magnus pointed to her. It looked almost like one of those chaise longs one would expect to find next to a pool, but twice as wide. The cold temperature of the boulder told her it was, in fact, natural rock. She opened the mouth to speak when Helen's voice startled her. "I'm going to get changed, sit for a while, and you'll see why I come." Helen whispered to her, "Oh! And look up," she added walking behind a rock while patting herself dry.

The lights diminished and the place became darker than before. Sam could hear the water and her own breathing and smiled at how peaceful it was. She understood why anyone would choose the place to relax. And then, she saw a yellowy flash, and another and another. They were like tiny dancing lights.

"Fireflies," she whispered. Helen came out from behind the rock fully dressed, but barefooted, and stealthily sat beside Sam. Her smile was contagious.

"Just wait…" she told her, looking up in delight. And then, the ceiling started to shine in purple, red, green, and blue and so did the pool. "They shine when they don't feel threatened."

"I've never seen a firefly glowing in anything but yellow."

"Well, of course, that's because these aren't fireflies. The lights you saw flying by are the abnormal cousins if you wish, although, they are genetically closer to dragonflies. The purple shade, it's an unusual kind of moss, it reacts to the exchange of electrons produced by the flying. The red ones are abnormal bacteria; they live in a symbiotic relationship with the rock. When shining, the moss, heats up the rock and then, the bacteria glow. When the rock shines, the scarabs which live in here shine… That's the blue. The green is nocturnal butterflies… And once they all shine, the water creatures know it is safe. By now they are used to me and glow when I'm on the water."

"This is unbelievable, Helen," she whispered in awe

"I know… is almost as having the universe for yourself… This is part of the reason why I love what I do. How could I not protect them?" She smiled, then looked at Sam from the corner of her eye. "Although, I don't quite believe you are awake at this time just for the fun of it, nor that you woke up Will to know the pond or the various inhabitants of this cavern." She pointed.

"No… not really," she made an apologetic face.

"Don't even try to apologize. Will is quite used to my sleeping schedule, and he is a light sleeper unless he is exhausted. He's also worried about the current situation. But again, you are not here to talk about him. What's worrying you?"

"I'm not too sure…" she sighed and bit her lower lip. "There are several things in my mind right now."

"Ah... that happens, a lot." Helen sat and turned to face her, and observed her in the dim light. "Stop me whenever you want to, you are overwhelmed by the idea of having parents you know nothing about. You are also concerned about what your friends are going to say when they figure it. And to make all worse, the moment they know you are related to us, they will know you are one of us… And it scares you. The one reaction is bothering you the most is the one of Colonel O'Neill. You love him, and you are worried that, after what he said, he stops loving you because of what you are."

"How on Earth you do that?" She asked amazed. "Do you have the same skill Will has?"

"No," she chuckled, "Will has this incredible mind which allows him to see things in a way we don't. What I have is enough days roaming this Earth to read people like open books. And your Colonel, behind all his walls, is transparent for me. Have you ever heard about who people you know acting like a mirror for you?"

"Yeah… if something bothers you about them probably is because you have it and you can't control it in yourself, right?"

"Yes, it works for the good things too. And it works quite well to read people like your Colonel."

"I don't get it."

"He seems reserved and overly cautious… I've read his file; I understand why he is like that. I can also see through him since we are very much alike."

"You and him alike? Yeah, right."

"Yet, we are. For years, I closed myself to the world, believing that keeping people at arm's length would avoid me feeling. It didn't. I thought I had enough walls; I figured they were enough… They weren't. I still cared, and I found out it was easier to let go of them than try to keep them up and not enjoying what was available on the other side for me."

"You found Will."

"No, Samantha… I had you," she smiled sadly, and Sam gulped. "Bringing you into my life brought joy, hope, and love, in a way I had never felt before. And losing you made me utterly miserable. But as my days progressed and I was still there, the Sanctuary needed me; people needed me. I started to move like a ghost of myself until I understood I was affecting all those around me. I never forgot the pain of losing you, but I was busy enough to move past it. And in those days I wasn't, I found myself making a little ritual to remember you. I started to accept that the cards were dealt and my hand was awful. And when I did, I realize not only how I hurt people, but how much I was missing out. I lost a close friend, and I wasted my time not visiting him on his deathbed. I took people for granted; I had forgotten that most of them have a limited amount of days. And that, no matter how broken you are, happiness still lies in your hands. So, yes. I know how much he lost, his child, his friends in the war, I know he spent some days as a POW. I've experienced that all… He's at a point in which won't take much to bring him out of his cocoon…"

"I can't… We can't. There are rules."

"I know, they always are. Humanity couldn't thrive without them in place. They don't apply to all of us; they can be broken or overlooked. At the end of the day, what counts is what makes you feel at peace, what makes you the happiest and what gives you fewer regrets. Of all the things one must live with, regret is the most damaging. Trust me; I have tons of those on me."

"Still… we can't."

"You will, sometime."

"Like you and Will?" Helen raised her eyebrow, "Will told me he loved you for months after he started working for you, but he also told me you didn't hint a thing. Or like you and Nikola?"

"Probably closer to my history with Will than the one with Nikola," Helen smiled sadly, "Nikola was the first man that I liked, he knows me too well, he is my best friend. However, we've never managed to consider each other as a couple. I'll guess someday we will finally give up… When we get too tired of people dying around us, but there's a difference. I have lots of days and him… Your father is immortal. There's a way to revert it, and I know, at some point, he will use it. Just like he knows, at some point, I will break beyond repair."

"But why don't you give it a chance?"

"I love Nikola. However, I'm in love with William. I've loved a lot of people over the years. Curiously enough, Nikola pushed some of them to me… Like William and John."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he wants me to be happy, Will makes me happy, John made me happy. Out of my relationships, he gets more time in the labs which he loves as much as he loves me. It sounds egotistical, but that's just the way we learned to couple with the fact we've known each other since I was 18 and he was 23. I believe we are terrified of the idea of not having each other. Even when he was in hiding or when he didn't know I wasn't the Helen he thought I was, he was there for me, no questions, no complaints."

"You visited him during your second visit?"

"Yes. Nikola learned it was my current me when I returned."

"And why you hope it's more like Will and you?"

"If it is like Nikola and me, you might never know the kind of happiness fulfilling a loving relationship can give. With Will, we took almost six years to get to this point, but we got here, and he makes me happy."

"I see."

"It wasn't a piece of cake. I knew Will's past, qualifications, and how he looked in a picture. Nevertheless, I didn't expect to feel attracted to him. I knew he liked me; we flirted like mads. And he was different; he was the first one who dared to challenge me. When I was about to make a move, he started dating. I lost Watson; he lost Clara… And then, I lost Ashley. He knows I pushed him away because I was scared. It's not a wonderful history, so I'll just make a summary."

"As I told Will, I'll take anything you want to share." She smiled, and Helen observed her for a while making her blush, "And it might help me with my issue, I hope."

"I trust you are wrong; yours seems a little easier."

"I don't care…" Sam whispered, and Helen sighed, chewing her lower lip.

"The attacks started, Ashley and the super soldiers created with her 'improved' DNA destroyed several Sanctuaries and killed a lot of friends. And they got to my home, to her home."

"I don't even know what to say," Helen smiled tiredly. But when she started again, her voice was lifeless as if she was taking herself out of the picture and just recounting something it happened to someone else.

"That wasn't the worst; I had to decide whether I wanted to save my daughter or my life work. And I knew… I wanted it to be a hard choice, but there was no option. We worked day and night to find something, anything that pointed to a possible way to control what they became, but we found nothing." She gulped, "I knew without a shade of doubt that I should kill her, or die trying. And I almost did, when they invaded the house, they killed Will's girlfriend, and at some point, it was just her, another soldier and me… And I couldn't… I don't know how or what made her surface and took control of her body for enough time to blow herself and the remaining soldier against our EM field. But she did, she killed herself to save me," Sam's eyes widened, and her hand covered her mouth.

"I pushed Henry to try and find if she got stuck in the EM, but we found nothing, I went insane with pain. By then, John's rage and bloodlust reached a new peak, and he went against them. I, somehow, pushed Nikola to go with him. I wanted that revenge as much as they did. I just couldn't do it… I had to pick myself up and the mess they did on the Sanctuaries, and I didn't have time, not even to mourn. Through that, I had Will. He kept pushing me, helping me, anchoring me, picking myself up. But I was terrified … and I pushed him away. I understood I loved him, but the thought of losing him… I couldn't lose anyone else... At some point, we went back to our friendship, and catastrophically, when I was ready to move forward, more issues raised. We lost the public support of the Governments due to an unprecedented uprising of abnormals. And, while we tried to sort this out, he met with a former co-worker. The time I used to try and save everything I've done, I pushed him to her. He had Abby, and I had lost him again."

"Nikola noticed what I felt, almost at the same time I did, he didn't tell me a thing, until he got tired of my attitude, and he started to push me to get the nerve to tell Will..." she chuckled. "And Will thought Nikola was courting me, or something… Anyhow, that's when I got to time travel. I spend the following hundred thirteen years trying not to change the future. Dear Lord! It sounds like an awful penny dreadful…" she whispered. "When I was reliving my life, I understood things which on my first turn hadn't made any sense to me."

"Like?"

"I was on the Titanic," she trailed. "You don't seem surprised."

"Nikola told me…"

"Ah, did he tell you why I was coming?"

"You had something to do that couldn't wait..."

"Yes, when I decided to partake on that trip, I found trails of movements inside the network, money, and abnormals, signed off by me. I came to undercover who was using my name…. turns out, I was using my name."

"You did things you remember lived, but didn't do on the first timeline in which you existed, but on the second time, you altered this same timeline with what you knew you did but didn't do? Did I make any sense?" Sam wondered out loud.

"That's exactly what happened. With the knowledge of what was going to happen, I found the holes; I was the one who created them in the first place. Among those, I found a way to develop the tech level to keep Ashley contained until I managed to make a body for her conscience."

"Then when …"

"Me and Will? I mentioned I had to blow up my home? "

"You what?"

"I had to make my death believable, so I blew up my home."

"At least I know from where the blowing things up come from…" She muttered.

"That's from Nikola; he adores blowing things… I told Nikola my plans, and we figured out I couldn't try to get into a relationship with Will, because of them. To be free to move and continue with my work, I had to die. And for that to be believable, people who knew me well enough would have to believe it without a shade of doubt or 'die' with me. Therefore, I pushed him out of the building and into the hands of the Government, then with him out, I blew myself with the house, and we moved here. I had to wait to bring Will until there was no one else checking him."

"How did you know he wasn't being surveilled? How you know he was?"

"We used the cameras they placed to check on him and placed some of our own. He was such a mess; I wanted nothing more than telling him the truth and bring him down…"

"You couldn't, because bringing him before time could expose the whole thing to those who had him under surveillance."

"Exactly. I learned he broke up with Abby, and later, resigned from his position. He wasn't needed anymore, there was no relationship with me to be used, so they allowed him to go. They kept an eye on him for two whole months after that…"

"Ouch…" The cavern went dark, Helen smiled.

"Mom?"

"Over here… Do you need something? Everything is alright?"

"Yup, just using energy. Will told me you were at the pond…"

"See… they all know how to find me." Helen smiled, "Do you have enough strength to take us back to my room?"

"Sure thing!"

"Care to try a bit of teleportation, Samantha?"

"I … I don't know."

"We can walk, if you wish, it will be somewhat... stealthy... considering my no makeup status."

"That one is a hard one to explain, believe me," Ashley commented. "Oh! Come on; it's super cool, I swear I won't miss any part of you in the process."

"Ashley! That's not helpful," Helen added.

"Ah, and here I was about to ask you if you could rearm me with more stuff in the boobs."

"So you are in!... Let's go! I'll have to find Dracula later; I will need to spar with him"

"Probably at the lab."

"I'll check the cameras. Shall we?"

"What should I do?"

"Just click your heels together twice…" Ashley grinned

"Oh no, not another Wizard of Oz fan…" she muttered making Ashley laugh.

"Just grab me."

Helen grabbed Ashley by the arm, and Ash offered her hand to Sam. The moment she placed her hand dubiously on her half sister's hand they disappeared in a blue electrical cloud.


	15. Chapter 15

Hello!

Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate that you all took a moment to leave them. I hope you still like it as we move forward! :)

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Fifteen.**

 **A few months earlier**

 **Will's POV.**

It's been days since my return; I'm still not sure if I'm going to stay or leave. I'm still mad at her for lying, for hiding all this from me. But mostly, because she left me to deal with the fact that she was 100% certified dead.

What do I know for sure now? I know this place is fantastic!

Everything from the hidden entrances around the world, the connections between the different Sanctuaries, the buildings, the ceiling, the small details which make it feel like home even when it isn't when it shouldn't be possible to feel the sun rays or watch the moon shining brightly. But it is, thanks to that thing which floats and makes us believe we are still out there. Every tiny thing has been thought and engineered to extremes I couldn't conceive before I saw them in front of my own two eyes. And, truth to be told, I can't help it. I feel a little put-off because I wasn't part of it. I'm late, everything is done now, and there's not much I can do to improve it. Not that I could before either.

But hell! She even managed to bring Ashley back, and I still don't know how she achieved such feat, but there she was. I saw her daughter, I saw Ashley sleeping, and then I saw her sparring with Tesla. And there's no doubt this Ashley is no other than the one we thought we lost five years ago, and, I cried when I finally understood she's okay.

I have those moments in which she was torn between mourning her daughter, wanting to chase and kill everyone in the Cabal with Tesla and Druitt, and reconstructing the Sanctuaries imprinted in my memory… It was hell.

I remember… her.

In ways, I know I shouldn't remember her, I remember her vulnerable and strong, sophisticated and enigmatic, and cryptic and so willing to share her histories… I remember her so paradoxical. I remember Helen. The Doctor, the woman, the mother, the daughter, the friend, the patient…

I sigh. I also remember how badly I treated her when she was there for me during those months after her return when she was finishing her last touches on her plan. And I was running around with my head focused on Abby.

I look up to the ceiling above my head and cover myself with a pillow and growl because I can see clearly in my mind the image that hung with me all this time.

I see Helen.

I see her happily joking, rolling her eyes at me, I see her smile, her hair, the pain I caused and that spark in her eyes that, somehow, she's not letting go after all this time and all the pain she went through. And my insomnia, which was perfectly treated before, way back then when she trusted in me. Way back when she didn't need me to show my emotions to save her work. When we were friends, and I wished we were so much more. And I remember, how her image came haunting me night after night when she didn't only push me to SCIU arms but kicked me out of the place I got to call home, while I hoped for the best outcome.

Since then, my insomnia started to hit slowly, but surely. One day at the time as we moved further away, as she made herself scarce for me; and then, she blew herself up. I gulp, this whole time, I just … existed. I got used to inhabiting the body of the zombie I became. Not even my mind worked full-time any longer; I couldn't see things I used to see, and then… She came back.

The first night I returned, I slept like a baby. In her office, out of all the sites I could have chosen to fall asleep. We were there, sitting on this super comfortable sofa and she was explaining something, and my head just lolled. I tried to keep awake, to pay attention, but the next thing I remember was this annoying sound of typing that wouldn't go away.

And the sweet smell of her perfume.

I thought I was in heaven; I nuzzled my pillow which smelled like her. The noise stopped, and I was ecstatic, the warm fuzzy feelings now overflowing my body. Then I figured it out, either I dreamt all that day, or blacked out on her. A hand caressed my hair, and I sighed out of sheer joy. I couldn't have stopped it even if I tried to.

"How long since?" she asked me in concern, and I knew what she was talking. I knew I didn't need to answer before she managed to calculate it by herself. She sighed, "for what it's worth; I'm truly sorry, William," she whispered, moving my head tenderly until her eyes were boring holes in mine. And I nodded...

Somehow, finding myself in that position wasn't as embarrassing the following day. Or all the other days until today, for that matter. I groan again because my mind keeps drifting between memories of her, and I convinced myself I couldn't keep bothering her to help me sleep and that the image of me sleeping in her office under her watch was not that professional. For that, today, I resisted the urges to get myself to her office and now, I'm awake!

Surprise! Surprise!

I look at the clock; I might as well go and find her she's probably still there. Or, I can just walk around to tire myself. And somehow, I convince myself of the second, and I drift to the place where I found Ashley the last time. She has a very secluded room far away from the living quarters and closer to the infirmary and the dangerous Abnormals area. Why she's so far away, I'm yet to ask.

I hear the faintest sounds coming from the area closer to the young Magnus room, and I find her. The subject of my awakeness. Is that even a word? I'll blame that one to the tiredness. Anyhow, I know it is her, even if she is curled up in a tight ball, and I can't see her face. I kneel in front of her before I even know it.

She raises her head slowly as if she doesn't have any fight left and I gasp. Purple marks cover her eyes and cheeks. She lets go the hand she has on the side of her head, and I swear I can see her ear detaching from its place and I gulp, she looks … defeated. And that's a scary image. One I knew once before, and I wanted to forget.

"How can I help you?" I ask because there are too many questions in my head and that seems like the most important one. Then, I see the blood dripping from the arm that's clutched to her chest and the whiteness that can only come from an exposed bone. And I swear. "I'm going to place it back," she nods once, and I want to cry when I hear the painful way in which bone finds its place back in the arm, but she doesn't. She only stares at me biting the healthy side of her lacerated lower lip while holding her hand against her face. I run away, to find something to bandage the area, to stop the bleeding, or maybe, to step away from the broken image of her.

I return and cover the bloodied arm, and I see her fighting with all her might just to keep herself awake. 'At least she's fighting,' I think to myself. She lets go of her head again, this time the ear stays in place and I wonder if I just imagined it before. "It's … Attached… Again… " she whispers in this tiny voice, "help me... getting … to my … Room," she adds between short breaths and I grab her.

You know, I always thought carrying her would be something I wouldn't get to do. Not only because of our boss/protégé relationship but Helen is well proportioned, and she's tall. She's not your regular skinny girl, and I always thought I wouldn't be able to hold her for long. Surprisingly, Magnus's extremely light. And I find myself carrying her to her room, while she tries to keep herself awake.

"Bath," she instructs, the moment we get into the bedchamber of her room. I nod and walk towards the door I see. And I gasp for air seeing that, I entered into a world of Helen's clothes, and the whole space reeks of her. When we reach her bathroom, I place her on the ground softly and turn around to open the water.

"Purple one…" she gasps, and I see what she's referring to, there are salts or something on a shelf. I grab it and drop some in the tub. I see the corners of her lips twitching before she blushes fiercely.

"What? What does hurt? What can I do?" I ask desperately, she bites her lower lip and lowers her eyes.

"Help me… Undress," she says, and my eyes widened. Never in my wildest dreams, I considered having the opportunity of undressing her. And now, here I am, standing in her bathroom, purple salt bottle in hand and looking at her in bewilderment. "Shoes?" she offers after a while, I nod and take her shoes off.

"You sure?" I ask, and she nods.

"I need sleep and food… The salts will help," she says, her voice sounds a little bit stronger. And I guess it's related to the fact that, the wound in her arm has finally stopped bleeding.

"I can bring you food, Magnus… But what happens if you fall asleep in the tub, and I don't know… Drown yourself, or something?" She chuckles, and wince grabbing her side.

"I'm not bleeding… I'm stronger now… I'll wait for you…" she adds with an enticing smile and I gulp. I don't even know why those words hit me so hard. "hand me the scissors," she asks, and I stop. "Second drawer left side."

"Why?" She looks down at herself, fully dressed in a tight sports pant and shirt, while she's soaking in the tub and I get it. I nod and find the scissor that for some reason exists in her bathroom before I run to the kitchen and back. When I return, I see the scissor by her side, but so far there's not a single cut in the vicinity. "Not strong enough yet…" she shrugs. And her eyes land in the things I brought, fruit and milk and a few cereal bars and chocolate. "I'm sorry, William… This is really embarrassing… I must ask it anyway." I gulp, "Can you feed me?... I can't manage yet…" she says, while she tries to close her hands in a fist and fails. I nod. Her head falls backward; she blushes fiercely, "chocolate first, easier… lots of sugar. Lots of quickly burned energy."

I feed her with a couple of pieces, and I can see how color returns little by little to her face. Well, under the purple marks. The cereal bars follow, and when we reach the fruits, she gives me one swollen hand and asks me to pull. She grimaces when the crack is heard and brings it back to her body, touching it softly with her other hand. She nods thankfully, once she finishes checking everything in her hand is back in place. She looks better now, but she has some blood traces in her hair and the place where her ear was detached. I look around and find a bowl that will work for my next task.

"Where's your hair stuff?"

"Shower… why?" she frowns.

"I'm pretty sure you don't want to sleep with your bloodied hair."

"Will… there's no need."

"I'm not doing it out of need, Helen. I will do it to give you more time to gather strength, and hopefully, to relax you a little," she sucks her lower lip and I leave her for a quick moment to get her stuff. I wash her hair while making sure nothing is stained any longer. "Do you think you can stand up, now?" I dare to ask, after a while, and she nods.

"I can stand. I won't be able to get out of here," Magnus comments looking the couple steps between the tub top and the actual floor. I grab her as I did before, and this time I gasp, because her arms are around my neck and her face is close to mine, and I can feel her breathing against my neck. Somehow, I manage to leave her on the floor, standing by herself. "I've drenched you… I'm so sorry, William," she adds. And I can see she has tears in her eyes.

"Don't be Helen…" I say, placing some strands of hair behind her ear, trying to calm her down, she smiles.

"Huh," she adds. "Sadly, this isn't over yet, and as I, hopefully, can't go lower than today, I'll guess I must ask, with a little luck you will able to forget all of this"

"What do you mean?"

"William," she says in a clinical voice, and I know she is detaching herself out of the emotions she's feeling, "I need you to undress me. Just cut the clothes out. I can't take them off, they stick to the skin and pulling them down will take forever."

"Okay," I hear myself say before I can even process what I just agreed to.

"Start from the pants and up, then the shirt… if you hand me a robe, I might be able to finish by myself."

I nod, because honestly, what do you say in a situation like this? I grab the scissors and place it on the leg of her pants. She hisses. "Cold," she smiles. I concentrate in cutting without hurting her. I cut one side to the end of her thigh and start the other side. Once I finish, I stand.

"Just think of it as a very skimpy bathing suit," she chuckles, and I blush.

Really? Doesn't she know how imagining her in anything 'skimpy' is arousing to the extremes? Hell, imagining her in a Victorian gown with thousands of layers is highly stimulating. I chose to concentrate on the work at hand, and I avoid looking down. I know I will see miles of soft white skin and I don't think I can afford it.

I place the scissor on the hem of her shirt, and start the cut, and, oh! Dear Lord! I'm touching her abs! I get overwhelmed by the feeling of her skin against mine, and it doesn't help me that she chooses that exact moment to tremble and sigh and I can see the goosebumps on her arms. I raise my eyes to hers, confused by her reaction. She has her eyes closed, and her mouth is slightly open. She opens her eyes slowly when she feels I'm watching her. Her pupils are dilated…

"I'm human too… Sort of," she jokes. I nod, our eyes lock, and I cut the shirt and her sports bra at once. She sighs happily, and I press my jaw tightly to avoid looking down. "Hand me the bathrobe, please?" she asks, I walk over where she pointed and turn around the exact moment she chooses to let the remains of her shirt and her bra fall to the floor, her bare back to me.

"Here," I add nervously passing it over her shoulder.

"Okay, breasts and bum covered," she winks at me, "You'll need to finish the pants. I'll keep them in place, and you can turn around so that I can get rid of them." I nod, and once again I find my eyes locked on hers. "Thank you, William. You saved my reputation," she smiles when I hear the sounds of clothes connecting with the floor. And then, surprising me, she places a faint kiss on the corner of my mouth. She ties her robe not too tightly, while I look at her in awe. "Help me to the dressing room?" she asks and I, once again, nod.

She stretches the not broken arm, once I get to her, she grabs me by the waist with it, while I grab her from hers, and we slowly walk out. She stops on a bench and asks me for a nightgown and a towel.

"Will you wait for me?" She asks hopefully, "I need to get to the bed and I don't know if I'm able to do so by myself."

"Call me when you finish," I step away towards the bathroom, and start picking out the mess avoiding the pile of clothes. I don't need her underwear stuck in my mind. I drain the tub and place the scissor back in the drawer. And she calls me. I return, and I gulp, the nightgown I handed her… Oh dear lord! It looked longish, and with not that much cleavage. But it's a little above her knees, and the lace has less cloth than I wish. And she's sitting…

"Hey, there are boxers, shorts, and shirts in there," she points to a place with drawers. "They should fit you, and you can get rid of your drenched clothes."

"Hum... okay" I don't even want to wonder whose clothes are since I'm sure they are from a certain Serbian dude. She raises an eyebrow when I don't move. "Right," I say and grab what she told me and quickly change into them in the bathroom. She smiles when she sees me, and she extends her arm again, and I'm soon moving along with her towards her bed. And helping her with it, she sighs when she is finally settled.

"Good night, Magnus." I start to walk away, with enough memories to keep me awake for years to come. The way her skin feels, how she sighed under my touch, how…

"William?" she calls, and I stop myself and the sigh I was about to let out because I'm sure a will hear another thank you, which I don't know if I can take right now.

"How's your insomnia?" Helen asks, she's beaten and bruised, and I don't know how she got into that situation, but Magnus still worries about me. I gulp.

"It's almost a grown up now," I joke. She crooks her head as if she is trying to understand something completely foreign to her.

"Then, why didn't you come see me?" She frowns, it's a cute frown. I'm screwed for life.

"I don't want to bother you, Magnus, I'm a grown up, and I should be dealing with it." She chews her lower lip and nods. When she doesn't say a word, I turn around.

"William?" She calls again

"Yes?" I answer in a somewhat annoyed tone.

"Will you stay with me?" she whispers, I don't know if she asks for herself or me, but it sounds like a plea. She smiles, "please?"

"What about Nikola?" I spat, "What he's going to say when he finds out I'm on his clothes in your bed!"

"What?" She asks in shock. "Really, William? I hadn't you pegged as the jealous type. Let me be honest with you; those aren't Nikola's, those are mine. I find them rather comfortable, especially if I must wake-up in the middle of the night and run somewhere without much time to get into something more decent than what I'm currently wearing." She giggles, "Can you imagine what would happen if I go to Mirkel's room with this?" I blush because I know exactly how depraved Mirkel can be, harmless but utterly annoying with his words.

"Yours?"

"Indeed they are. Now, care to explain to me what on Earth led you to believe Nikola was sleeping here? He has his own room, right next to yours, he still prefers to spend more time in the cellar or the lab that in his room." She dismissed with a wave of her hand but looks at me expectantly.

"Ah… I," I can feel the blush burning my cheeks. She observes me for a while; then she pats the bed

"It doesn't matter what led you to that conclusion; I'm still waiting for your answer, will you join me? If it makes you feel better, it doesn't have anything to do with your insomnia and a lot to do with me not wanting to be alone at the moment."

I nod, and I walk to the other side of her bed. It's huge, and we won't even notice we are both in it. Right? I try to convince myself I won't know what it's like to cuddle with Helen Magnus because I don't want to have to erase such memories and blame it on an awful situation. But, then she moves a little bit closer to me and sighs in… Contempt? And I swear I won't be able to sleep, her eyes close tiredly, and the next thing I know, is that I'm waking up with a warm body half on top of mine.

I move the brown hair away from her face, and I can see her, no makeup, no marks, just peacefully sleeping, and I sigh happily, reveling in the sensations that I will take with me to my grave... Her eyes flutter open, and she looks up to me, and smile a sweet soft smile that I haven't seen her show before.

"Good morning Will," she says in a whisper.

 **Present time**

A windy sensation and a blue light bring William out of his dream. He knows that light too well: Ashley. He sits on the bed trying to control his breathing, glaring at her when he hears her giggling.

"Bloody hell, what's up with you Magnus women scaring me to death today?"

"My mom scared you?"

"She decided to pay a visit to Keuld, who wasn't feeling too well and couldn't control her freezing touch. Your mom had to treat her, so she came here cold as ice and face-planted herself into bed trembling. And her hand found my back, and I jumped out. Then, two hours later, she woke up to go to the pool, and I went back to sleep and … of course, your sister decided to come looking for her and tripped over the darn chest and scared the crap out of me with her swearing. And now you…"

"Oh, Will! We are not so bad…" Ashley laughed, "I didn't mean to scare you, it's not my fault you are so easily scared or… Awoken"

"And here I was in the middle of a sweet dream, and you come," he rolled his eyes playfully.

"Hush, dad…." She joked, he raised an eyebrow, and she did the same", I know you were totally dreaming of her," she smirks, "I'll take you don't know where mom is?"

"I left her at the pond with Sam; she couldn't sleep… none of you can, apparently." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you have to adore the Magnus' traits. Go back to bed, William, tah-tah!" she waved before disappearing again. A few moments later, he heard a loud thump outside, and the door opened.

"Ashley?" He asked, then he spotted Helen walking towards the bathroom.

"William, I thought you were sleeping!" She came closer to the bed and gave him a quick kiss. "Yes, Ashley brought us back, they are rummaging through the albums. And I'm in a desperate need of a shower…I'm late!"

"Oh! Dear Lord! Helen Magnus is late! We can't possibly have that," he joked, and she glared at him. Then she turned around swaying her hips.

"Just for that, I'll wait for you at the staff meeting. In an hour!" She finished disappearing behind the doors.

Outside, the Magnus girls were using the album of Helen's family to have a bonding time.

"You know, I learned from you some days before I passed away…" Ashley snorted. "It sounds so freaky! Anyhow, I found her on your birthday, and she told me everything. It was a couple of weeks before I went missing, I don't know how I managed or why I didn't say anything about you. Or maybe I did, and mom was right, and even if they knew about you, finding someone who doesn't exist is almost impossible."

"And yet here I am."

"Lucky us… Anyhow, for years I thought this little one… Was me." She said, caressing a picture of Helen, her hair was a shade or two darker than Sam's, she was smiling brightly, and she had a baby dressed in a white dress, the bracelet on her little arm shining through the picture. "When she told me, I remembered this picture. She has a copy on her desk, one of this one and one with me when I was 3 or 4... It's my favorite picture of us. One day, I took that picture out of the frame…" She took the picture out of the album and turned it around. In Helen's handwriting the words Samantha Magnus – December 29th, 1970 appeared on the back

"That's me?"

"I guess so…" Ashley shrugged and looked the watch. Then she gulped, "I need to find Nikola now."

"What? Why?"

"You know I'm changed, right?" Sam nodded, "I'm under a treatment of sorts, it helps me to be me. With you guys around, it's kind of hard to use the energy I need to use to keep myself in line."

"That's why you were jumping around?"

"Yup, I need to beat the crap out of Dracula… sorry, I know he is your father, biologically at least, but if we want him to be not bruised by the time your team is up, then I gotta go."

"Okay…" before she could ask anything else, she was gone. She sighed and looked the picture of her baby self, a tiny smile appeared on her face. "I guess things would have been different."

"They might have…" Helen told her from the door a sad smile on her face. "Ashley?"

"She went to find Tesla," she frowned, "She also pointed me to this picture," Helen smiled.

"Good. The lock put a hard strain on her, that's why I decided to unlock you all. I couldn't... I can't afford her taking a step back on her treatment." She pinched the bridge of her nose, remembering all those fights, all those days in which they were all in the room, trying to take her down. "And the picture, it's the only memory I had from you. I still have all the things I got for you, but you never used."

"I found them… My dad… hum… Jacob Carter"

"Your dad. He will always be your dad. No matter how biologically you are Nikola's daughter. Just like your mom will always be your mom. I, we … Can't take the place of those who brought you up. They made you who you are; we just made you what you are, in biological terms, of course… And it was sweet of him, to save those mementos for you."

"Well, as I told you, I didn't know until recently. But I don't want to talk about me… Or the Colonel."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Why did Will stayed? I'm trying to figure out what I would do, and there's no way I would have stayed," Helen closed her eyes.

"Did Ashley told you about her treatment?" She nodded, "Will arrived a couple of months after we started it. I could see how he was fighting the demons I gave him. But I needed him here, not only for me but to help her. I knew I had pushed him to his breaking point, and I didn't hope for him to stay for me... Yet, I needed him to stay and help me treat Ashley; he was the only one who could help her deal with her mind."

"Okay…"

"I convinced myself I was doing it for her and only for her. And still, I couldn't explain it to him. He was supposed to stay for two weeks before taking any decision. That night, she called me for a fight, and I went. At that point, we used to be two in the room, just in case. And both Nikola and I can get a good deal of injuries and pain, but we need to be well fed, and I wasn't …"

"She …"

"There are a moment or two when she spars in which she's not herself yet. Back then, she wasn't herself most of the time, and even though she got a good deal of injuries until she fell unconscious. She was strong enough to give me, two black eyes, a lip cut, a jaw fracture, broken and bruised ribs, an exposed broken radius, displaced shoulder, wrist, and knees. And a detached ear…after two hours of sparring and healing. When she passed out, and I tried to stand up and heal myself once more, I remembered I hadn't had anything since breakfast. And it was past dinner time."

"You called Will?"

"No. I dragged myself out of Ashley's room and locked it, and then I sat, and I was going to wait until I was back together, I was about to pass out when Will came… He was trying to tire himself enough to sleep. He helped me and then, I had to explain to him what happened to me…"

"And I knew I had to do my best to help Ashley. Is there any chance of having a gigantic cup of coffee now? It might be a good excuse to tell your Doctor Frasier, who just entered your room."

"Crap… and yeah, coffee sounds like an excellent idea," Helen rolled her eyes

"Not even five minutes in the same room and you have already corrupted my daughter with coffee."

"Me? There's no Magnus I can corrupt, darling… You are all forces of nature by your own"

"I'll take it as a compliment, you both better go. I need to finish hair and makeup," she rolled her eyes, "and then I will join you."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

"Here you are!" Janet exclaimed, entering the dining room and making them jump apart. Surprised by the reaction, she eyed them close. Truth to be told she was astonished to find Sam and Doctor Zimmerman whispering things to each other. But then, Sam smiled as if the image they gave wasn't all sorts of wrong.

"Hey, Janet! Doctor Zimmerman was explaining to me how to make the best coffee ever," she welcomed the Doctor quickly, hoping to avoid any other comments. Will blushed, he understood the look in Janet's eyes immediately due to his ability to see things, and boy, they didn't look good when she entered.

"I see," Janet added, looking from one to the other and squinted at Will. "Has he offered you a job yet?"

"Huh?" Will frowned, "Why would I? Even if I wanted to, there's a procedure to be followed when someone is recommended or chosen to be brought down here to work. The only one who can hire someone and push it down the lines is Magnus, and even she gets her head chewed off until the background check is completed." Will explained, turning around the find a couple of cups. "Has Doctor Magnus mentioned something about an offer to you? Certainly, she hasn't spoken about it with me."

"She hasn't," Helen's voice interrupted them, walking towards the area where the tea cups were set, "I can offer her a job, but first I have to run her through the network, you know that William. In any case, I'm quite certain it will be easy to open a position for you, if you want one, Samantha." She turned around with a cup of tea in her hands, and an easy smile.

"Possibly one for you too, Doctor Frasier. Your curriculum fits quite nicely with our needs. Although, for what I've seen and read, you all are quite a contempt on your line of work," she sat on her regular place and smiled. William winked at her while passing by; he set two mugs in front of the other two women who had also found a place to sit. Then he sat too, humming when he sipped his coffee. The corner of Helen's lip twitched upwards, but then she turned to the Doctor, "How did your friend pass your shift? Since both of you are here, I'll assume Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Jackson are currently with him."

"Shouldn't you worry a little more about the status of your patient?" Janet inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought I was, hence, my question." She sipped her tea, crooking her head. "I know you don't like me, Doctor Frasier, I'm yet to conclude why, since I've done all in my power and knowledge to help those under your regular medical care." She frowned, "I can't assume your dislike for me is related to my DNA because it existed before you learned of my … Situation… And I don't like to prejudge anyone. However, reactions are leading me to believe you are feeling threatened by my skills, not by my biological structure."

"No, it's simpler: I don't trust you," Janet smirked. Helen raised her eyebrow.

"You don't have to. Furthermore, I will not ask you to do so. Believe it or not, I don't mind your jabbing and irony. Nor I care a little sarcasm and downplaying; I have plenty of experience dealing with those fields. I've used them myself as weapons of self-defense at some point or another." She dismissed with a slight shrug, "However, I must advise you that I will continue to use my expertise to help all those who need me."

"We will see about that…" Janet muttered under her breath.

"Is that a threat Doctor Frasier?" Helen smiled, "Let me assure you, more influential people have already said that to me, and at the end of the day… I'm the one still standing. Now, if you excuse me, I have responsibilities to tend to, I'll be checking your friend at 8:45, which, according to the data I received from his bio and hourly scan, is around the time he will be awake. Ladies…" she nodded, not giving Janet more time to add anything, she stood up and walked towards the door, stopping by the threshold, "William, don't forget about the staff meeting. Also, can you verify with Henry the result of the last cargo we were expecting?"

"I'm on it. Will you check on Nikola's results?"

"I will, however, chances are he will find me at my office for the meeting before I find him," she smiled at him.

"That's true…" he checked his clock, "Humm… I guess I will go through that with Henry after the meeting?" She looked at her watch and huffed.

"It seems that will be the case, walk with me then?"

"That will be my pleasure…" He smiled, and turned around to grab his cup of coffee, "Ladies…" he waved and disappeared into the hallway. Sam walked to the door and waited for them to be a little further away, and hoped that better hearing wasn't part of their super DNA.

"What the hell was that?" Sam almost growled to Janet, eyebrow raised.

"You know when you do that; you look even more like Doctor Magnus," Janet commented frowning.

"What the hell are you implying Janet?" Sam asked in a huff.

"I'm not implying anything, Sam… but you should probably try and remember that your real friends, don't look at her quite like you do," Sam frowned.

"Okay…" she scrubbed her face tiredly, "timeout! I have no idea what just happened between you and me, Janet. I need more coffee to be able to process this, you know? I could not shut my brain off with the chances of being able to save the Jaffa's... and even if I were, I probably wouldn't understand why are you acting up like this, anyway!" She sighed seating close to Janet.

"Oh, I dunno… Maybe, it is because I was terrified something happened to you when I went to your room to find it empty! So, I tried to keep my cool and figured you probably walked back to the infirmary, out of worry of Teal'c's health… And I walked there, only to find out you are not there nor they have seen you there. Then, Daniel mentioned, you probably would be looking for coffee, and I come here only to find you all cozy and doe eyes with Doctor Zimmerman!"

"Wait! I understand you being angry with me because you didn't find me where you expected me to be… But why are you jealous? And of what?" Janet raised her eyebrow as if it was the most obvious thing, "what? Don't tell me you are afraid he will charm me and I will forget all about Jack?" She snorted, and Janet blushed. Sam's eyes widened when she noticed it was true. "Oh… you are…" She added in disbelief.

"Well, it's not like you haven't tried… remember you told me about that cop of yours," she pointed, making Sam sigh.

"I get your point, Janet. I know you think I totally screwed it up by dating Pete. However, despite what it might have looked like to you when you entered the room, the truth is: Doctors Zimmerman and Magnus are an item. Even if she's not one for PDA's or showing off their relationship, he doesn't have eyes for anyone else… And that was what he was telling me when you found us. How and why they keep it quiet."

"Really?"

"Yes! And he hoped his history would help me with my romantic issue…" she chuckled, "their thing, the way they finally got together, it's so messed up that makes my lack of relationship with Jack look like a joke."

"You told him about Jack?" She added a bit crestfallen. She snorted

"No… he's a Psychiatrist. He worked as a behavior analyst for the FBI, and when he saw the exchange…."

"He figured out. Well, the whole base knows you two are in love and not willing to risk it. I shouldn't be surprised that a Psychiatrist figured it out."

"Oh, I wish it was only him." Janet raised her eyebrow, "I suspect they all know. But he is the 'most reachable' of them, right? I mean, you and Jack, both feel uncomfortable with Doctor Magnus, and the others try to keep away from us, except for Will…"

"He is Will now…"

"Sure, why not? I'm just saying; I won't be surprised if I figured out that his chat about his history was encouraged by Helen. If she's indeed the mastermind which keeps this all hidden, then thinking I might need a little insight on worse case scenarios don't seem too out of her possibilities. I mean, you don't get to keep a secret this big without learning a thing or two about humans, don't you think?"

"I guess so," Janet huffed, and then blushed, cringing, "She was quite right about me," she bit her lower lip, "I … I might be a little jealous… The way she got to help you all and specially Teal'c…. Gosh! We worked for ages to get the Tretonin done and in 10 minutes she got something way better."

"Don't beat yourself up, Janet. They have more knowledge on some things, and they have more resources than we do too."

"I was overreacting, wasn't I?"

"Yeah…" Sam smiled, and Janet huffed. "At least when menacing her, that was a little overboard," they laughed, "Oh, Will… he agrees with you…"

"He does? On what?" Janet frowned.

"He thinks I should stop trying to be happy with Pete. Because it won't work."

"Really?"

"Yup… see, they are not so bad."

"I'll wait to confirm or deny that one."

"It's all I'll ask," she bumped Janet's shoulders with a smile, "you know, I like this, not because of what I might be, or not. But because it reminds me of those quiet missions when we get to know new things, and new people and no one gets harmed. Anyhow, should we go? I'll bet Daniel will jump for this one…" she grinned, showing her a cup of coffee.

"Let's go."

On the other side of the building, staff meeting started without much fuss. Nikola still had a couple of bruises, so did Ashely. Both wanted to make a stop in the kitchen before teleporting to Helen's office, but thankfully, they had checked the video feed and found the two women in there and decided it was best not to.

"Don't worry, mom. I'm going to puff us out back to his lab. Or to the infirmary," Ashley said as Helen studied the damage she had, moving her daughter's face carefully to see the damage on her face.

"Hey, no loving, worried caresses for your old friend?" Nikola pouted.

"Oh! Hush Nikola, you better start healing the obvious ones."

"Or my bully can simply do as she said and teleport me to my lab and no one will be the wiser," he smirked

"You both need to feed first," Nikola opened his mouth, "one joke about my blood and I will lock the cellar… or worse, I will lock you in your room."

"Oh, you could stay with me and make sure I behave…" the raised eyebrow was all the answer he needed, "You are not fun, dear… not fun at all," he huffed plopping himself in an armchair.

"Reports?"

"All locked abnormals have been fed in time and manner. Pili asked for containment on high-level security for the recently found mutated Petromyzontiforme."

"Very well, prepare a water container and organize the transfer. Spheres transport will be the fastest, however, due to our current situation, ask Pili to send Arjun and Mohammed to accompany the current container. They will return to her once we have secured the package."

"Will do, also, video feed shows that both O'Neill and Jackson remained by Mr. Teal'c's side. Last time I checked, they were still there. And as you asked, I raised a perimeter barrier for abnormals around them."

"Thank you, Henry."

"Just let me know when I'm supposed to bring those down," she nodded.

"Ashley?"

"I'm contained. I'm jumping around, to help with the energy management. I've managed up to eighteen hours of full autonomy, plus sleep before I need to strain myself. So, I'll say I'm me… Sort of," Helen grinned, as they continued to present the results of their task.

"Well, now that we are almost done. I need to let you know that all functions will be reorganized once they are gone. As you know, there's a secured perimeter just out of the boundaries of this Sanctuary. The others can contact us, and their visit will be planned and scheduled. Once I know more about our guests' health situation, I will be sending you a timeframe for the days we will be out of here."

"Magnus…" Kate started, with a worried glance.

"Kate, as you requested before, you are out of topside missions' list. You will be staying. Henry, Erika is stable, the baby is growing slowly but surely, however, it's your decision. The travel won't take longer than a week. And even if it gets prolonged, you will be able to return whenever you feel like it."

"Cool, Doc, I'll think about it." Helen nodded.

"What about me?" Ashley asked, chewing her lower lip.

"I don't know how straining can the situation be for you, Ashley. It is an underground military base, which means it will be heavily guarded. You won't have a chance to teleport or might be caught on cameras. Also, we don't know what kind of energies they move around there. Thus, we can't tell how badly it can affect you. However, if you feel up to, you can join us, sparring will be permitted, but it must have to carefully hold up if you are by any chance presented with an average human fighter."

"I'm in," she grinned, "if we can come back when we feel like it, I can test the waters and be done if I need to return. You know I don't want to take a step back on the treatment."

"Very well then," she smiled at her daughter, "Once you confirm your decision, Henry. We will be asking reinforcements from the Sanctuaries. The hope is to keep a team with the same skills we have, in this facility due to the complex nature of this building. Declan will join you, Kate; I trust he will be the most willing to leave his post and take care of the dangerous wing."

"When are we going?" Nikola asked with a grin

"As soon as they are, we are going to use the same transport out. They will be expecting us when they arrive. Questions?"

"Isn't a little like walking into the lion's den?"

"It might. However, we have Henry's permission and word that we are to be left alone, at least, while we are at the military base. Even with all his power, he can't guarantee I'm safe topside or any of you for that matter. Our names are not to be disclosed to anyone outside the higher ups and are treated as top secret, communications of our arrival are being done through secure lines between the Oval Office and the base Commander. Now, on protecting ourselves from them… We have the NDA's from all of them. Hopefully, with those, we can be confident they will be taking care of their mouths." She finished and looked around waiting for more questions.

"Will you tell us why Samantha Carter looks so like you?" Henry asked hopefully.

"Human race has a limited combination of DNA; it's not surprising one is similar to another."

"That's a no then… We get it, Doc. You will let us know when times comes, right?" Henry told her, and she smiled at him before nodding once.

"Alright, then. We are all done here; I need to go and check my patients." The meeting quickly dissolved and Magnus and Will walked towards the infirmary. They saw the military crew sitting in different positions around the area, but all of them stood up when they approached.

"Good morning, as I asked Doctor Frasier before, have anyone of you seen anything which could be out of the ordinary on him? Rashes? Skin changes? Eye changes?"

"No… Nothing."

"Excellent! Combined with the ongoing analysis of his vitals and DNA, everything points to a stable condition. His sedatives should be wearing off by any moment now." She walked into the room, Will in tow. And started a quick exam, while she was doing it, she saw the movements of the eyes. "Welcome back Teal'c." she smiled as the alien opened his eyes drowsily. "How are you feeling?"

"Did it work?" He asked, deflecting her question. The others charged in as soon as they saw him opening his eyes.

"Well, according to the results, there was no change in anything, except that now, you are a regular Jaffa pre-intromission of the symbioses."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked eyebrow raised.

"I don't understand," Teal'c also commented.

"It means, you are a healthy adult of your species. One who doesn't need any help or out of body replacement for his immune process to work."

"Are you sure?" Daniel asked.

"I can prove it to you if you feel like I'm not telling the truth."

"Please do," Jack stern voice added.

"Very well then. Teal'c, I will need a sample of your blood, if that's okay with you?" Teal'c nodded, "Thank you," She took a vial of blood. "Do you feel strong enough to walk? We can provide you with a wheelchair or a video feed if you don't feel up to."

"I will walk."

"Will, can you call Nikola? " He nodded and walked out of the room, seconds they were returning to the chamber. Ashley's wide grin was everything Magnus needed to know how they got there so fast.

"We were passing by," Nikola added with a smirk, "what do you need Helen?"

"Teal'c wants to walk to the lab…"

"I'll be by his side the whole time."

"I'm here too," Ashley pointed.

"Good, let's do this then. You might feel a bit drowsy out of the sedatives, Teal'c. Please, hung up to Nikola if you need help at any point."

"If that's your reinforcement to carry him in case he falls, then we were better off without them," Jack added annoyed.

"I don't want to burst your ego bubble, Colonel O'Neill. However scrawny looking I might be, I'm better equipped to deal with the weight of your friend by my own, even more than you and all your friends together are," He commented with an eyebrow raised.

"Gentleman … this is not a battlefield, and none of you are adolescents any longer."

"I'm sorry Helen, but he started." Nikola hissed.

"And you are going to end it, Nikola."

"Right… Shall we go Mr. Teal'c?"

They walked to the main lab, where Helen placed the blood on a container. The arms lowered and several Petri dishes were exposed as she typed the instructions. Ashley saw Teal'c clinging most of his weight on Nikola, and grabbed a chair for the big guy. He sat with a warm smile that Ashley quickly answered with one of her own.

Helen was typing fast; the screens lowered down. Soon, they started to be divided in different squares in which different names appeared: 'Vibrio cholerae', 'Orthomyxoviridae', 'Salmonella typhi', 'variola major', 'variola minor', 'varicella zoster' , 'plasmodium', streptococcus pneumoniae' , 'Mycobacterium tuberculosos', 'Rickettsia rickettsii', 'yersinia pestis', 'cillobar' and 'Lazarus'

"Cholera, influenza, typhoid fever, smallpox, chickenpox, malaria, pneumonia, tuberculosis..." Janet explained pointing to each square.

"What are the last four ones?" Daniel asked since Janet stopped.

"The Rickettsia ricketsii are the bacterium which causes the RMSF… Rocky Mountain spotted fever. It's a widespread disease in the US, is transmitted by a tick bite," Helen explained

"The Yersinia pestis... are the bacterium which caused the plague. It was a nasty bugger, if you ask me," Nikola commented

"And the cillobar and Lazarus?" Sam frowned, they were all trying to avoid those two. Helen inhaled deeply, she pressed a couple of keys as if she didn't hear the question, and blood was poured into the containers. She bit her lower lip to get enough resolve to explain what the last ones were.

"The cillobar…." She started and sighed.

"Ah..." Will shuddered, "it's a spore. A very rare one, the DNA is mostly unknown. However, it produces a severe DNA mutation. It's not a fun experience."

"And Lazarus is an engineered virus." Helen continued, "it was created to be used against Abnormals. And since by abnormals, we define a range of any variation of human DNA to the rarest ones..."

"He might suffer from it…" Sam added.

"He could; I don't believe he or anyone will ever be subjected to Lazarus again."

"Why?"

"Lazarus and all the remains of the records are completely in our hands…." Ashley cleared her throat, "My mom paid a huge price for it. Nikola and my dad oversaw the destruction process of all the remaining files."

"Added to what Ashley explained, the only pieces left of the virus are completely contained."

"In your hands…"

"Yes, we have frozen Lazarus and cillobar spores, along with all this other human virus and bacteria which exist around the globe."

"We managed to procure even a few of the engineered ones your Scientist are creating without any thought, and that we must figure out how to stop, so the human race can survive," Nikola added

"You can't blame it on us, having the virus is the only way we have to find a cure for it. This is how diseases are treated since my..." she stopped herself, "since the first vaccines appeared. We do what we must to keep all the species protected, even the ones which are actively seeking to destroy not only us but themselves. Now, we aren't here to discuss how treatments are created, but to see if Teal'c immunity is back, if you are quite done with trying to blame me, us or our line of work for things I can't possibly control… I will proceed"

"Of course…"

She turned around again, and on the screens, they saw as one by one, virus, bacteria and spores were injected to the Petri dishes, and they could see how in most, everything went as supposed.

"Is that right, Janet?" Daniel asked.

"Most of them are... what about the..." Janet frowned.

"That's the expected behavior... so far," Nikola told them. Then, the arms were moving again, something else was dropped in the last two containers, and the result changed to a positive one. Helen smiled brightly.

"Well, everything is correct as you can testify it for yourselves."

"What did you place in the last two?"

"To recover from a cillobar attack, a second spore-containing the victim's DNA, before the assault must be injected to reverse the metamorphosis started when the spore develops. "

"And for the virus?"

"There's a cure; it cost us a great deal to create. Sadly, when a new virus is created, it takes time and many unwanted deaths until a cure can be created. Lazarus took several species with him."

"As it happened with Jaffa's left without Goa'ulds," Teal'c added somberly.

"Sadly, healing advanced can't be done at the same rate that destructions occur. The good thing is, you won't depend on them any longer. The serum we gave you seems to have worked nicely, and most important, permanently. However, as I said to Doctor Frasier, I will want you to take a regular blood test to check the DNA doesn't turn back to the prior version…"

"If that's so… can we treat my people?"

"Indeed, we can. We must organize a structured schedule; our blood is accessible, but it's limited. We will provide the serum for you as we can produce it."

"What she's saying is, that we can't produce it at the rate you need it. We won't be able to save everyone at once," Tesla translated. "We can promise our best effort to try and keep most of your population, but without a definite number, permutations can't be described as easy. You will need a very well thought plan."

"What about the children?"

"They can have the cure too… If I were to start a campaign of sorts, I would start with the kids, elders and then, everyone else. Both female and male in reproductive stages should be abstaining of the mating process, until they both have gone through it, to improve the chances of having a child who won't require any treatment."

"I see."

"However, what Nikola just told you is correct, we can't save them all." Teal'c nodded once.

"We can save more than we first could. And that's better than none at all," Teal'c added, and Helen smiled.

"You should return to your room, and get some more rest. I also need to examine all of you to verify how your treatments are working," they all reluctantly nodded and walked towards Teal'c' room. Helen walked into the room they were using to sleep before, "who will be first?" Daniel came closer, and she smiled. "Please…"

"Doctor Magnus, I can't begin to thank you for what you've done for Teal'c," he started while taking his shirt off to grant her access to his wounds.

"Then don't," she interrupted, observing the injuries.

"What?" He frowned.

"Don't thank me," she added touching lightly the places where the scratches were made. "Any itchiness, pain… does it hurt if I do this?"

"No… why wouldn't you want a thank you? It does itch there."

"I will give you an ointment; you should use it twice a day over the scratch, it will also help to diminish the scar. And I don't need your gratitude, Doctor Jackson, I didn't do it for you. I did it for him, I care about every single species I've found so far, and I will continue caring for them as long as I should live."

"Huh... for some reason, it sounds almost like you believe you are going to live forever," she smiled mischievously.

"I will live for a long time… In my work…" she winked at him. Then laughed dismissively, "I must confess, Doctor Jackson, I'm of the opinion that living forever is overrated. For a long time, people regarded as a blessing to have all the time in the world to do as you please, however, can you imagine all that you must lose when continue living, while everyone else withers away?" She inquired, giving him a small plastic bottle.

"Huh, never thought of it like that… Is that the …"

"Yes, twice a day. Doctor Jackson. One won't be enough. Three times will make it worse."

"I'll keep that in mind," he nodded, jumping out of the table.

"Please do," she smiled, "the itchiness is a good sign. Doctor Jackson, your treatment seems to be working fine." She told him as he left the room, she saw Sam approaching, "Samantha, should I draw the curtains?" she asked.

"Yeah, please."

"I can call Janet…" Daniel trailed.

"Nah, that's okay Daniel." She finished entering the room, she jumped on the bed, and once the curtains were down, Sam took off the shirt she had and laid down.

"As I thought, you don't even have a scar any longer, good genes huh?" Helen wriggled her eyebrows and Sam smiled sheepishly.

"Awesome for my line of work. Otherwise, I would be a walking scar," Helen snorted.

"My thoughts exactly for mine." She winked, "now, any itchiness, pain, discomfort, you might have felt around the area of the scratches? Or anywhere in particular?" Helen asked

"No… I'm good. I did have some slight nausea, and I think I'm running a light fever." Helen hummed and checked the systems. She was frowning and chewing her inner cheeks while reading the screens. "According to this you are correct, you are running a small fever. This means I need to modify your dosage."

"But?"

"Chances are that due to your nature, the venom is being captured and capsulized somewhere in your body. We will need an ultrasound to verify where that is and check if I need to extract it. We can do that tonight when they are not watching if you are more comfortable with that," Helen finished worrying her lower lip.

"What's the procedure?"

"It will depend on the findings, if the capsule is a small one, a small puncture should do. However, if the size is bigger than a zygote, then we will see. Worst-case scenario we will need to do a small procedure to extract it. I do believe it will be larger, but if conditions are correct, a puncture to remove most of the contents of the capsule should be enough for your body to finish the job without provoking anymore discomfort."

"See you tonight then?"

"I'll guess you know how to find me by now," she smiled.

"Colonel O'Neill, you are the last one…" She added once; Sam walked out of the room. Jack looked at her with a frown, "Doctor Frasier can do the checking if you feel more comfortable with her, I will still need to supervise since I know what I'm looking for."

"Just do your job Doctor," he hissed and walked to her. She started the process again.

"Pain, discomfort, itchiness?" she asked, and he answered no to all. She pressed a point she didn't like, and she saw him slightly wince, "are you sure, Colonel?"

"Yes."

"Okay… anything you need for your other injuries?"

"No."

"Then, before you go I will need a blood sample."

"Why?"

"You are not complaining, not to me at least; therefore, I want to make sure we are on the right track," he eyed her, and she kept her eyes on his. Then he nodded and extended his arm, a few seconds later he was walking out of the room. And she was left to chew her lower lip. "Doctor Frasier?" she called from the door, "Do you mind if I spoke with you for a while? I need to show you how to duplicate the test for Teal'c's case," she nodded. Janet joined Helen in the room, and slowly, Helen showed her what to do with Teal'c's blood sample.

"It's simple enough, with the right tools," Janet accepted.

"Which we will provide for you… I do have a request," Helen added, she looked worried, but Janet just raised her eyebrow.

"Looks like the other shoe is finally falling…" she told her.

"On the contrary, there was never a shoe, Doctor Frasier… My request isn't quite what you will expect, and it comes out of concern from your Colonel. I've managed to convince him to give me a blood sample to analyze, although, I don't need an exam to know his treatment isn't working."

"What?"

"He's feeling pain where he shouldn't, he's slightly feverish, and he says there are no itching sensations. Those are all indications the treatment isn't working. I fear he might not be taking the medications I gave him out of distrust. However, if he keeps doing it, there will get to the point in which we won't be able to recover him. You need to convince him that the treatment is safe for him."

"I don't know, Doctor Magnus… I'm not certain myself," Helen closed her eyes slowly, and inhaled deeply.

"I can show you videos of the results of being poorly treated. If your Colonel is skipping dosages or not taking them at all, then he is poorly treated. And he might die"

"I'll do my best… but he might not listen to me."

"Huh… Then I shall speak with Samantha. I'm quite confident he will do anything for her."

"How on Earth…" Janet started.

"I have a pair of functioning eyes, Doctor Frasier… And they can't be more obvious even if they tried. I will wait for you to give it a try, please let me know if I need to have that conversation with her. Just radio me if you require to find me." She added getting out of the room and walking out of the area, leaving a worried Janet behind.


	17. Chapter 17

I feel I should point to you (again) that I'm using writer's license on all biological aspects. I did research and all; I just don't know if I got it right xD

Anyhow! You should be used to me by now…

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Seventeen**

"Show me," Janet ordered loud enough to make Helen stop dead on her tracks. She turned around and assessed the petite Doctor and nodded.

"Come this way, then," she said, Will searched her eyes for a quick second before nodding in understanding, "I'll be in the library with Doctor Frasier if someone needs me. Ah, please tell Henry to report back with the results from Pili's requirement."

"Will do."

They walked the corridors briskly, Helen's long strides making Janet put a double effort on walking as fast as the other woman, but she was quite used to it. Although, Sam and the others tended to slow down a bit when she was with them. What she didn't know was how much Helen was restraining her steps to wait for her.

"Finally," Helen muttered under her breath when she stopped in front of the library. The room was an enormous collection of books from every single genre that could come to one's mind. Janet looked up and around in awe; it looked quite like the library from her alma mater in the number of volumes that could be seen. But they didn't stop there.

Helen walked towards one of the bookcases, Janet frowned until she saw the furniture becoming transparent. As if it was a hologram and not a real one, then she saw Helen's hand descending from a place in which some sort of palm reader was attached to the wall.

"I did mention we have all kinds of biometric safety points," Helen smiled at them, "there are many books about abnormals sitting on those shelves, as there are videos and recordings. In there, you can find answers to several questions you didn't know you had. However, these," she said, pointing to the shelves around her, "aren't quite as nice, and they can be quite dangerous in the wrong hands."

"So you are meant to tell me you have access to all these terrible things? Is that a threat?"

"Far from it, it is a reality. In here we have information about the most dangerous Abnormals in existence, and some which don't exist any longer. All of them, are here to be protected and to protect others from them. Information on the paloraevious venom lies here, even if they are harmless creatures most of the time."

"Then why are they here?"

"They were genetically designed, a long time ago, before the dark ages. They wanted to create a creature who could be both docile and hostile, a pet of sorts. And they were born, they are very docile in their habitat," Helen explained, looking from the recordings she had, "if they recognize you as the Alpha, you can play with them as you will with dogs. However, they also gave them, an improved version of the boy jellyfish toxin."

"Wait… boy jellyfish venom, as in…"

"The most dangerous poison known to the man, yes."

"And it is an improved one, you said?"

"Sadly, yes" Janet blinked a couple of times. "The paloraeviouses have nematocysts, which adhere to the cuts produced by their claws. Once they reach the bloodstream…"

"The toxins are released, yes, I know that"

"What you don't know, is that … The toxin inside these nematocysts is in fact inside a virus. The virus multiplies, and once they are enough to cover the length of the body, they release the toxin."

"The treatment?"

"It helps to kill the virus, sort to speak. But under an inadequate treatment…"

"The virus still multiplies."

"Yes… Here, these are some recordings of the last time we didn't get there in time," she pressed play and clenched her jaw. The video started, it showed a group of at least 15 people, it looked like an old recording, it still was black and white. Helen hoped Janet's mind to focus on the results and not on the details of the video; it was from 1967. But she forgot…

 **1967**

 **Busanga Swamp, Zambia.**

She was barely alive herself; her body was fighting whatever was inside her with all its might. The lack of food and pure water making it a lot more complicated. All fifteen members of the teams which had been assembled for capturing and moving the paloraevious out of the national park and into the Lusaka Sanctuary were injured and worsening, despite her efforts on saving all of them, including the poachers.

They hadn't counted with the poachers who had come out of the nothing and created the chaos that followed. She passed her hand out to clear the sweat out of her forehead and fought with her own eyes to keep them open, while she tried to figure out what was wrong with all those who had gotten stricken by the claws of the reptiles, including herself.

She had managed to keep them all alive, despite her worsening condition. She had called Lusaka and asked for reinforcements and help, but she had also raised a quarantine procedure to be established, and that needed to go back to London.

She saw a shadow out of the corner of her exhausted eyes and then someone came close to her.

"Dear God, Helen…" she smiled tiredly, she was pretty sure it was James, although she couldn't be 100% sure due to the mask and the safety gear in which he was. But his voice was unmistakable, and even at her worst, he deserved the best smile she could give him. "Don't utter a word... what are you doing here anyway? You should be resting!"

"You told me … not to talk…"

"Yes, of course, you need rest and food. Why aren't you on an IV?"

"Couldn't suture … If I had one…" she explained, and he made an 'oh' with his mouth.

It was so much her, to be awfully sick and still be helping others. It had been barely forty-three hours, since the incident, but the crew was in no condition to be moved and the newcomers were all in safety gear. He knew it could take a good chunk of time to get to the bottom of it, finding the origin and a cure as soon as he could take longer than most of the people had. He walked her to the bed in her tent and made a quick decision. "Sleep Helen, I will find a way," he told her, placing a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes closed the second she touched the bed, "or I will find someone who knows about this…"

He walked out and organized the groups. One group was issuing the safety precautions around the tent in which both teams and the poachers were agonizing from several scratches. Those who didn't lose parts of their bodies, were running fevers so high that touching them was painful. Some started to develop blisters, and all of them were muttering words or leaving out unpleasant sounds. It was madness.

The medical research tent was being raised; they had brought several things from London and Lusaka, including Specialists in virus and bacterium. But they were no Helen; they weren't even close to the experience or knowledge she had. In most situations, her knowledge was the only thing which had saved thousands of lives. He chewed his lower lip, everyone who was brought for investigation knew about Helen's remarkable ability to heal herself, and under his mask, he smirked.

"No one goes in here, except I." he announced, pointing to Helen's research facility. Then, he did the only thing he knew could save her. "I'll be right back, keep your gear on, and verify all the injuries are healing or at least, are sutured."

He jumped on a vehicle towards Mumbwa; he knew it was a fat chance. Alas, he also knew her, and if she was alive, it meant she knew about the current situation. He found his way to the Ila people, and when he went down and found himself surrounded by spears pointing around his neck, he only uttered two words.

"Helen Bancroft."

The spears came down, and he felt his weight collapse on the floor before he knew what happened. The pain he felt on the side of his head spoke of a blown to his head that resulted in him losing his conscience. He didn't know how long he was out, but he could recognize that smell with his eyes covered and with his nostrils blocked. He tried to sit quickly. However, a mix of nausea, dizziness and two hands pushing him softly back to his bed told him to do the opposite.

"You called?" Helen asked, and he smiled.

"You are dying."

"I know… you have been out for sixteen hours; I couldn't risk moving you like that."

"I understand," he mumbled with his eyes closed.

"I do hope you remembered to bring two safety suits?" She inquired, and he nodded. "Well, if you are done with being unconscious, shall we go save me?" She smiled

"Oh! Dear Lord, that glint in your eyes! I swear one day it will kill me…" she gulped, but didn't say a thing.

They reached back to camp in the wee hours of the morning, they stopped in the outside to gear up, mostly to be sure people didn't see her enter her tent, in where she was convalescing. They entered her tent, and she knelt beside herself, touching her forehead to check for the fever. She remembered it, this situation as being so consumed by the heat that she thought she was hallucinating of herself taking charge of her own health. But she knew better now.

With the knowledge she had, she isolated the virus quickly and efficiently and started a quick treatment on herself. Once she began to react positively, she risked getting out of the tent. The quarantine was brought down, but it was too late for at least six members and two of the poachers. She sighed, watching desolated how bad it was, she knew she couldn't avoid it. Not more than she could avoid any of the tragedies around her life.

They told the others she had finally healed herself, enough to help them. The black circles under her eyes, a product of restless nights of fear of screwing this one up enough to change the timeline were sufficient to erase any doubts on the others. Not that they would question both Helen and James decisions at all. And then, she started to improve until she remembered something else.

"We need to do surgery," she told James as she entered the tent in which he was carefully taking care of her young self.

"What are you talking about, Helen?"

"Huh," she said, remembering she had been somewhat conscious during this particular conversation, "I'm capsulizing the venom, while it is in me, I won't be able to heal myself properly, not in this condition…"

"And we can't move this camp, without raising sanitary concerns in the network."

"Exactly, we need to operate me," she gulped, "it's far from ideal, but it will shorten my convalescing time. You will have me…" she said, nodding to her feverish self, "up and about in 48 hours."

"And then you leave."

"And then I leave… You know this is risky, James. You know as well as I do, we are taking a huge leap of faith on this one." He nodded.

"Let's do it."

Less than forty-eight hours later, she was waking up, feeling tired but refreshed. She opened her eyes, and she thought she saw herself watching over her. She smiled at whoever was and then fell asleep again. Once her eyes closed, Helen turned around and left the tent in search of James.

"I'm improving, James… I shall go now."

"I understand… it was pleasant seeing you."

"Yes, that was fun seeing you too, you know how to find me."

"Always."

She embraced him tightly and then; she turned around waving at him. She took the vehicle he had used before to bring her and disappeared into the night. He saw her leave with a sigh. And then, when she was nothing more and dust in the air, he turned around towards her again.

"Here you are… feeling better now?"

"Yes, what happened?"

"Well, you worked yourself too hard, as usual, but you managed to save nine of your workers, and four of the poachers are going to rot in jail."

"I don't remember…"

"Well, you got it well documented anyways, so can read what you did later."

"Huh, funny, you know? I remember me taking care of me…"

"It was the fever…"

"It must have been…"

 **Present time**

"It starts with a mild fever; then it becomes worse. The temperature keeps rising until your body heat burns you. Your blood travels slowly, and you feel numb. However, even the slightest touch feels like a thousand needles going through your skin. Then, the dehydrations starts, and your kidneys begin to fail…"

"Holy Hannah," Sam's voice came from beside them. "It's that…"

"The results of the toxin you were infected with, yes," Helen told her gulping. "When you are poorly treated."

"But we are safe, right?" She asked, looking from Janet to Helen. Her low casted eyes were the answer she didn't want to see. "What? Tell me…"

"Colonel O'Neill... He…." Helen started, looking at the pained expression of her daughter, "He's not taking his treatment, Samantha. If he doesn't, he can go through that."

"Can you force the treatment?"

"I will force it if there's no other chance. However, he is still the owner of his mind and I can't and won't proceed against his will."

"What if when you do, it's too late?"

"Then I will do my best to make it the least painful as I can."

"It's not enough," she growled.

"I know…" she accepted quickly, "that's why I need you, both of you or either of you, to convince him to take the treatment."

"Where is he?" She asked, raising her chin defiantly.

"Find Colonel O'Neill," Helen said loud enough, and then the video who was being projected changed to show a view of the garden. "Front garden, main floor, go to the front door and then, turn left. When you see the pine trees, walk diagonally towards the river."

"You should have told me first," Sam hissed, and Helen nodded, chewing her inner cheeks.

"You should go, the sooner he retakes the treatment, the faster he will heal," Sam nodded and started to run out of the building.

"She hates when people hide things from her," Janet chimed in.

"We all do," she muttered to herself.

"Well, she might not like you now, which is good for me," Janet commented with a self-satisfied smile, then she turned around and started to walk.

"Doctor Frasier," Helen called her, closing the room behind her, "For someone who calls herself her friend, you should be more worried about how she is feeling after what she just found out, and not happier over how she must be feeling towards me. Good day," she said, leaving a silent Janet alone with her thoughts.

Unaware of anything but the need to find him, she ran outside and turned left and found him, sitting on one of the many benches on that particular side of the garden. His eyes fixated on nothing at all, but he was not unaware. She knew that by the way, his muscles tensed when she came closer.

She looked up to gather some strength and noticed how the clouds covered the area and wondered if they were capable of directing them to keep their secret safe. Then, she shook her head and added it to the list of questions she had for Tesla. And then, she rounded the bench and stood in front of him.

"Hey," she told him making him look up to her. His lips twitched.

"Hey, yourself."

"May I?" she asked, moving a strand of hair that had fallen on her face with the light breeze.

"Sure… what brings you here?" he asked, looking around, "and without any of your new friends…" She frowned while sitting beside him, "When the Doctor was checking you, Janet mentioned she found you and Doctor Zimmerman talking earlier, and you seem to be very fond of Doctor Magnus…" he explained.

"Didn't she tell you? They are together…"

"Yeah, she mentioned that," he shrugged, "but who knows, maybe you look like her enough for him to look at you with other eyes…"

"That's why you don't like her? Because she causes you feelings?" She asked, and he could feel the fear in her voice.

"Oh God, no! How did you come with something like that?"

"Really?" She raised her eyebrow, "you just said that from Will." He huffed.

"Of course, you would find a way to laugh at my … you know…"

"I'm not laughing, Jack… I was... You just scared me. The chance that you could think of her in that way…." she told him, grabbing his hand and giving it a small press. He nodded, understanding her fears. He just didn't have an idea of how messed up it would be for her if he were feeling something for her biological mother. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, and took a deep breath.

"Are you okay?" he asked in concern, and she nodded once.

"Just a bad mental image," she huffed and smiled, "anyhow, did Doctor Magnus said anything about your treatment?" He sighed, he knew what the Doctor wasn't telling him and he found pretty smart on her part to send Sam out to find him.

In the current light, it was pretty obvious, at least for her that he wasn't in his prime. He had dark circles under his eyes, he looked greenish, his eyes were red, and she could feel the warmer air around him. His hand was sweaty and warm, too hot to be just stress or the heat of the underworld.

"Are you going to take it seriously?" She asked pleadingly

"I don't trust her, Sam. How can I be sure I'm not getting drugged for something I don't have?"

"Right… The thing is, you do. You know you aren't okay. Your hands are warm; you look a bit green, and you are the only one of us who isn't taking the meds. And you know as well as I do, that; if they wanted to do something with us, all they had to do was keeping us strapped to the bed since day one, and that's not happening."

"Okay, let's say you are right… Why should I take her meds? And not wait until we are outta here and getting treated by Janet."

"Because there's no other solution? Janet was trying to identify what the hell bit us, but she couldn't. There's nothing she knows about that thing. And they do, they knew the name right from the start, while we were calling it Godzilla!" she huffed exasperatedly, "Jack… How is this any different than when we get treated by one of the many aliens we found out?"

"Hmm, this is Earth, Sam… the same rock, we know, and we try to protect, how is possible for us not to know what the thing was?"

"I don't know! With a lot of planning on their part?" she passed a hand through her hair. "Look, if you don't do it for yourself, do it for me, will you?"

"Sam…"

"Jack…" she sighed, remembering the last time she had asked for something like this. "Listen, I know what I'm asking for you is almost as bad on your list as the time when I plead you to become a host, and yes," she raised her hand to stop him from adding anything, "that turned out wrong. But now, if you don't do it it can be much worse, I've seen the results, and they are not nice, so just take the darn meds and then we can go back, and you can forget all about this place."

"We."

"Huh?"

"We can forget…"

"Yeah, that…" she added, mostly not to argue with him, "will you do it?"

"Will you forget about this place?" he asked crooking his head. She sighed.

"No, but it doesn't mean I plan on leaving you. Even if, leaving the SGC could be the solution we need," she smiled sadly. He raised his hand and caressed a side of her face, the way she leaned into his hand broke the last of his resolve.

"I will take them… For you. But that's as much as I'm willing to do around here."

"I'm okay with that… just heal, and we go home," she smiled and winked at him. "I should go and let them know you will be taking them." She pressed his hand and stood up. He pulled her hand a little.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure nothing is going on with you and anyone else?" She looked at him in the eye, and she found that Will was right when he told her that, no matter how good the replacement felt, it would never be the one she loved.

"No one else can be you, Jack…" she told him, and he knew she was telling the truth.

She walked away; she needed to find Helen. She needed to know why she didn't come to her first. She wanted to understand, she changed her radio to the channel marked as emerg and pressed it.

"Where do I find you?" The radio on Helen's hip crackled, and she looked up and sighed. Nikola twisted his head and squinted at her.

"What did you do?"

"I'll be in my office in 5," she answered to the radio and chewed her lower lip. "I might have withheld information on the actual health situation of the man she loves."

"You screwed it badly," Nikola pointed directly

"I know…" She nodded, pursing her lips and closing her eyes.

"Medical patient confidentiality…perhaps?" He offered

"It's more of maternal concern." She huffed, the corner of her lips twitching upwards.

"Do you want me to talk with her?"

"Not really. If she can hate only one of us, this time should be me. I was the one who didn't disclose information," she smiled sadly.

"Good luck then."

"I'll guess I'll need it," she said, jumping out of the work table and walking out of his lab.

She walked out of the lab and towards her office with her head on how to explain to her why or at least in what to tell her. She reached her door in no time and opened slowly, as she calculated, Sam was already in there. Helen closed the door behind her, also closing her eyes while breathing deeply.

"You should have told me."

"You want any excuses?" Helen offered. "Or just the truth?"

"Do you need to ask?"

"Not really, although, I know many who would have chosen the excuses." She shrugged and pointed to a sofa, they both took a seat. "I know what is like to lose the person you love, I know what it's like to see them wither away and I know what is like to do so when there's nothing you can do to stop it. I didn't want you to see that if I could avoid it."

"And then what? Hide him when he was so sick that there was nothing you could do?"

"No, I wanted to spare you those details, if it was possible while hoping you or your Doctor would make him see the light." She smiled sadly, "yes, I spoke with Doctor Frasier first, as her Doctor, she should be capable of making him see the treatment wasn't as bad. I told her, I was going to keep a close eye on your Colonel. And if noticed he kept skipping his meds, I would come to you," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "I certainly, didn't want to share those videos with her, or remember them myself."

"You were there."

"Yes, young me was sick, I was helping save her… me... It was a rather complicated situation. It could have changed everything…"

"What about me? You also mentioned my treatment needed change."

"When I got it, I had to do a procedure on myself to extract the capsule. I was healed in less than 48 hours after that. It should be the same with you."

"Because of my DNA."

"Yes."

"We should do it now."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but I'm sure I don't want that end for me. I did manage to convince Jack to take the treatment; you should probably fix his dosage first."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. You shouldn't be forced to be in this position, ever."

"Yeah, well… Your other daughter has to jump around to be herself. You are stuck watching people die around you and I… I suck at relationships… I guess mine is the best straw, let's not dwell."

"Okay, let's go to Nikola's lab. There we can find out your status and do the procedure. And at the same time, we can recalculate the dosage for Colonel O'Neill."

They started to walk; she was surprised to find out that Nikola's lab was in fact in the other building she saw when searching for Jack.

"I meant to ask… the clouds, can you control them?"

"Yes, we can. We can produce them also, but originally, clouds existed without our interference. The sun was a lot of work; it took me years to get it right. We also have fake stars, for when we are feeling a little trapped. And the breeze is also fake."

"And the thunderstorms, are all my doing," Nikola grinned smugly. "To what do I owe the pleasure of having two of the most beautiful women in the known world knocking at my door?"

"Technically, we didn't knock," Sam told him.

"Knock, slide… same thing and you haven't answered."

"She's solving her encounter with the paloraevious in the same way we would."

"Aw, don't you love a good healthy capsulation of viruses," he grinned. "Do we know where?"

"No, we need a scan."

"One scan is running, then," he grinned pushing Sam to stand away from them. "Just stay still, dear."

"What?"

"Oh, I just finished this one, it's marvelous if you ask me. Well, dear Helen, my medical knowledge is not as remarkable as yours. However, I believe this thing is the one you look for."

"Hum, it's bigger than I expected. Can you check if there's still anything in Samantha's bloodstream?"

"Nothing else, you got it all in there," he said tapping the screen. "For what I've read on when you got it, you probably were on your way to do the same thing, however…"

"Bad nourishment and lack of water….I know, she still has fever tough."

"She's still in the room," Sam chimed in

"Right… well, as you heard, you have nothing left in your bloodstream, which makes me worry about the fever."

"It might be due to this; you know her body won't stop healing until this is gone."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Oh.. that's easy. Let me show you," he said and found a screwdriver he was using before. He shook his arm, and then, he transposed his arm with the tool, hissing in pain, his teeth changing a little, "I'm sorry, I didn't attempt to make you feel queasy, but case point… The thing is in. Therefore, I'm in pain, and I can't heal." He stretched his arm towards Helen, and she sighed. Clenching her jaw, she took the tool out in one powerful movement, making him groan and lose his balance. She quickly surrounded him with an arm as he stretched his arm to show Sam, how the healing occurred almost instantaneously after it was removed.

"I wish you stopped doing this kind of examples," Helen sighed.

"Why? It's the best way to make them understand, and to have you holding me close," he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows

"You are impossible," she huffed and let him go. "Samantha, I can take the capsule out of you, right next door. Just let me sterilize it and start the calculations for Colonel O'Neill. "

Not even ten minutes later, Sam was lying on a metal table, with nothing on her torso but the sports bra she was wearing. Helen smiled at her, and then she covered her face with a mouse cap, giving her the final look of a surgeon. She still winked at Sam, before she injected her something below her rib cage.

"It's a partial anesthetic; I will be out of your body in forty-five minutes tops. It will only numb the area, allowing your body to heal itself." She grabbed a scalpel and started an incision; Sam hissed, "did it hurt?"

"No, it was just… uncomfortable, I guess…" she saw Helen's gloved hands going inside the cut with some tools she never asked the name of, and soon she was taking what looked like a skin made ping pong ball out of her. "Yuck."

"It's quite nice, contrary to what one can find in tumors, this is quite symmetrical, which shows your body was doing good work on attracting the virus to it in a healthy manner," she added a stitch or two inside. "Those will dissolve alone," she explained and then she turned around and found a small bottle of super glue.

"What the hell?"

"Why everyone reacts like this? Super glue was created to close injuries during the war; it helped keep them clean. And, in your case, it will stick the skin together quickly enough for your body to replace it in seconds."

"What?"

"Exactly what you heard. Nikola can you enhance the zoom to the cut, please?" The screen which was in the room zoomed in and was showing the incision she had, "look at it" she pointed then, Helen uncapped the glue and proceeded to stick her injury together. As soon as the glue joined both sides, it was replaced with new skin.

"That's so cool, how does it happen?"

"Your body finds a different structure which doesn't correspond to your cells, so it replaces it as soon as it can with what it should be… There's a much more complicated and chemically based explanation if you wish. There's a whole book on it."

"Nah, I'm good. Am I free to go?"

"I would be more comfortable if you stay around here until the sedative wears off completely. That will be ten or fifteen minutes from now."

"Sure… I can stay still," She didn't expect the laugh from both of her parents "What?"

"Dear, if with your DNA you can stay still, you are indeed a miracle." She frowned and they both started to laugh again.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello! Here I am again... this is I think the last chapter under, then we go to SGC… See you around!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **M.**

 **Chapter Eighteen**

Sam sat on the table with one quick movement, frowning at the abnormals who happened to be her biological parents.

"You are telling me, you don't think I can sit still for 10 minutes?" she asked, eyebrow raised. The answer, another laugh, was not quite what she was expecting.

"No, we don't believe so, we know," was what she got; after what seemed minutes of laughter. Ashley appeared somewhere in the middle of their laugh.

"You don't even know me… How could you be so sure?" The Major asked frowning.

"What's going on?" Ashley asked at Sam, seeing that both Helen and Nikola were useless at that point.

"For some reason, the idea of me sitting still send them into a laughing fit…" she answered mussing her hair.

"Dude! That's hilarious!" Ashley snorted.

"Oh for God sakes! Can someone explain?" Sam huffed.

"Well, from those two… "Ashley pointed Helen and Nikola, from over her shoulder, "the one who can stay still the longest is mom... She manages a whole two minutes before she starts again, and that's now, it took her over hundred years to master the second minute. Dude, she takes long weekends 'vacations' once every seven years, because she can't stay still."

"And because they can't, I can't? That's so not true," Sam crossed her arms at chest level, making Ashley raise her eyebrow. Helen and Nikola bit their lips to try to stop laughing.

"Okay, then... how long are you supposed to be here?"

"Another seven minutes," Helen chimed in, smiling.

"Then, I'm going to stay still until I need to get out from here," Sam announced with finality.

"Very well, we will go out there," Ashley smiled, pointing the lab from over her shoulder, "and you can stay still here for five minutes, just lay down again... and we'll see," Ashley finished, ushering the others out of the room.

"Lay down?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"We just lost a minute there... because, there are plenty of… Stuff… Around here, those will be distracting your mind and allowing you to 'stay still' if you can check them," Ashley explained.

"Okay. I will do it."

"She's so not going to make it past a minute," Ashley commented as soon as she was out of the room. The knowing looks from the others were only confirmations to her phrase.

Inside the room, Sam's started to tap her finger on her hand. Then, Ashley saw Sam's head moving around, looking around. Followed by chewing her lips, then inner cheeks. Then, she pressed her foot to the bed and started to move it.

"How much longer?" she asked a breath later, and Ashley entered the room.

"Well, discounting the time in which you started to look around to distract your mind, and bit your cheeks and lip … and tapped your feet or finger... then you lasted about 22 seconds... you are supposed to stay around here for another 4 minutes."

"What?"

"It's genetics," Ashley added with a smirk.

"She's right," Helen nodded behind Ashley.

"But how? I mean, I've been still for long periods. I need to do that to work and develop... stuff," They all looked at her with a knowing smile.

"If we have mental distractions, we can go for days without much concern for many other things regular humans would find distracting," Nikola explained waving his hands.

"He always forgets to take baths..." Ashley nose wrinkled.

"Bath, food, sleep... all those are second hand to the idea or situation at play; we can go for extended periods of time without having to take much. Depending on the situation, we could go weeks with little to no sleep, or food. However, once we finish the case, we will collapse."

"And even the collapsing part, can be… Scheduled… Sort of. We can go back to our four to six hours of sleep, and with the right nurturing, we recover quickly. Well, under the right treatment, I recover faster than Helen… But that's related with my particular physiognomy."

"Treatment?"

"Ah, yeah… I guess we never told you both Nikola and I are under a fake blood drinking treatment, right?"

"What?"

"It's due to their physiognomy; blood lust is the only thing that's correct from what the masses knew about vampires," Helen explained with a sigh, Nikola licked his lips

"Scared yet?" Nikola wriggled his eyebrows and licked his lips.

"Of you? Who can possibly fear you, Nikki?" Helen asked, with a smirk.

"Oh, come on! You were totally jealous of her."

"Right, because I was so concerned with Ph.D. long-legs and not with the interdimensional thing your rift field generator created."

"And here you see how two of the most incredible minds of the world turn back to kiddies," Ashley joked.

"Oh, say that again…" Tesla grinned mischievously

"What?"

"Rift field generator," his eyes sparkled, making Helen roll her eyes.

"You are impossible!"

"And yet you keep coming for more."

"I walked myself straight into that one," the giggles from both Ashley and Sam, stopped their banter. "Well, at least we are funny… Let me check your responses, and you are free to go, Samantha."

"Sure…"

"Well, the sedatives are out of your system. You probably will be feverish for a while longer, I will examine you again at night, to corroborate this was indeed the proper solution for you," Helen commented once she finished checking Sam.

"Can I go now? I'm starving…"

"Food, I knew I would like you…" Ashley grinned. "I can transport you to the kitchen."

"Check the area before you go on a jumping strike, will you?"

"I know you want me to take you back, mom," Ashley grinned knowingly.

"Have you seen…." Will asked, entering the room, "never mind. Helen, there are some issues with the cargo…"

"Did no one teach you how to knock?" Tesla commented, and Will rolled his eyes.

"Not now, Vlad. We need to go, Helen. The Petro…petrozombie…"

"Petromyzontiforme…" Helen provided easily.

"Yeah, that… found a host on the male Kithapholus."

"We need to find easier names…" Ashley huffed. Helen smiled.

"They are keeping the Kithapholus on a freezing chamber, however…"

"The petromyzontiforme isn't affected by the cold. Dear Lord, Ashley, I need you to transport us to the border."

"Just to the border?"

"The shield is still active on both sites…" Helen grimaced. Sam frowned since everyone else had fallen at bit ill at ease.

"Yeah, no thanks… exploding against it is only cool when it's to save you…" Ashley commented, and Sam started to understand. "Let's go then."

"I need medical supplies from ..." Before Helen could finish her sentence, they disappeared again.

"Do I even want to know?" Sam asked, looking from Will to Tesla, both answering her with a sheepish smile. "Do you know what the petromyzontiforme is?'

"How can you pronounce that so easily?" Will asked amazed.

"Theoretical Astrophysics, I'm supposed to be able to pronounce weird complicated words…" She grinned, "Also, I have a minor in Latin, which helps a lot."

"Your fault or her fault?" Will asked, turning towards Tesla.

"Helen's…"

"So, she's the one into languages and you the one blowing things up…"

"I do not blow stuff up!" Nikola commented outraged.

"Yeah, he does. This lab was designed mainly for his abilities to find new things who casually explode in his hands." Will winked at her, Nikola huffed, "anyhow, the petro, is a mutation of a regular fish, we found it around Chernobyl, the regular one attaches to fish, and they feed on their blood."

"Like a vampire."

"Hey! That's a tad offensive!"

"And yet, it's true…"

"Touche."

"Well, the mutated one acts more like a tapeworm. The petro bite its way into the host, and they develop there, and it can control the host making it extremely violent until they finish their cycle and they burst out of the host once they finish it."

"Nice… and there's one inside an abnormal that you froze"

"Yes, the Kithapholus metabolism slows down in low temperatures, which is going to give Magnus just enough time to get there, take the Petro out and fix the mess."

"Get where… are we?" She said looking around.

"This is the border…The limit of my Sanctuary," they were standing in front of a gate of sorts, beside the doors there was empty space and a canyon. She could see the other way it was greenish with what she thought it was pasture. She walked to the side of the door, thinking about a bridge or something that would connect the places, but she saw nothing. She also didn't see a reason why the door was there in the first place.

"There's a shield, extending from the limits, which prevents us and our contents to go out directly, and others to come in." She explained, pressing her hand on a biodevice, then she was subjected to a retinal scan. At her side, Will grabbed a rock a aimed at the canyon, she expected the rock to fall to the rift, but it came bouncing back, and she saw the ripple effect of the shield Helen had just mentioned.

"Motive and destination?" A mechanical voice asked

"Medical team, site 4."

"Granted."

The noise was low, almost like a humming. When the doors opened, and she saw a door of sorts, it was like seeing the canyon becoming a seating area. Helen stepped through the doors and dumped a few bags inside and nodded for them to join her.

"Hologram?" Sam asked as they stepped on what looked like a sphere from the inside.

"Cloaking device," Will provided.

"I couldn't afford the railway system to be known to the city, because it could affect the timeline, therefore…" The Doctor explained while opening a bag.

"You made them invisible," The major added in awe, and grabbed the sandwich and water bottle Helen was giving her. "Thanks."

"Ashley's doing," she grinned, biting her sandwich, "your father does come quite handy when you can distract him from his global domination plans," Helen smiled with a bit of nostalgia, "we took the properties we found in one close friend abnormality. Biologically, he was able to make his cells photosensitive at will."

"An invisible man?"

"Try THE invisible man," Will smiled.

"We didn't manage to recreate the cells for biological use. However, we did manage to create the same results with technology."

"For how long this one has been running cloaked?"

"This particular line is one of the newest; it connects my Sanctuary, based on under the US with Pili's Sanctuary, which is located under Mumbai. It has 20 years of existence; it has been a cloaked line since the beginning. Cloaking is working since somewhere in-between WWI and WWII. However, the oldest sphere lines date from around two or three thousand B.C, give it or take some centuries."

"What? How can it be possible? The level of technology…"

"It's impressive, but it's not new… The tunnels were all here before I took over. They were all planned way before I needed them."

"Why are you showing all this to me?"

"It wasn't my idea, Ashley did present a compelling proposal on why you should see this and I happened to agree with her. I don't know you; I wish I did. I know me, and I know Ashley and Nikola… We all see eye to eye on some things, and we differ significantly on others. On our daily activities, we mostly focus on the small picture, it's what we must do. It's easier since we know the bigger picture."

"The bigger…"

"Will told you all about the Network. That's only part of the big picture, and we are going to another small part of it. So you see, each node of the Sanctuary isn't small. And they don't exist merely as a whim, the bigger picture, in our limited vision of only Earth. Includes both top and underworlds."

"That's why you were outside when we found you."

"Yes, sometimes, abnormals want to recover what once was theirs, they want to roam the topside with the same liberty humans do. Others are just not conscious of the breach." Helen sipped her water, "we once were able to coexist; however, not all of us were able to do it freely. Now, we don't depend on anyone up there, but many of the Governments are receiving our help, although veiled by other names and companies. Even when they still are tracking us to shut us down for good'"

"Trafficking abnormals was a thing before; we tried to stop them or to gain access to them, as much as we could… But now, every Government wants a useful abnormal. Can you imagine getting someone with Nikola's skills or with Ashley's skills… To work for you?"

"I get it, but still…it doesn't explain why you would bring me over."

"Ashley thought you would like this one." She smiled, and they stopped. "Or at least, would find the travel interesting enough for your physicist mind."

"I'm an Astrophysics…"

"Yes, I know. And we are all micro cosmos of a macro universe," she winked and walked out.

"Should I ask?" Will just grinned at her.

Outside, they were greeted by the same gate, however, now the other side was no more the deserted kind of environment Ashley had puffed her into, not the pasture like green. It was completely colorful, covered with all sorts of ferns and bushes. There were two men and what looked like a golf cart waiting for them.

"Doctor Magnus," they greeted eyeing her. Sam noticed quickly, at least one of them was an abnormal, by looking at him in his shiny almost fluorescent green eyes. They looked at her but didn't comment on anything, nor Magnus gave them time to do so.

"Take us to the medical bay, as soon as possible, please."

Soon they were sitting on the cart, and moving at a higher speed than she thought possible. Then she saw why Ashley thought she might like it. The whole building could be part of the Indian architecture tour if it weren't for the little fact that the whole thing was underground.

A sun replacement was shining bright, and by comparison, it was a hotter than the one Sam knew. In front of the construction, a lake took part of most of the view, the rays of the fake sun reflected the building on a mirage which made it seem like it was both upright and sided.

"Wow," she left out, making Helen smile. Soon, they stopped on one side of the lake, and she got to see larger water species, before being walked inside.

"Pili."

"Helen, William," the other chief of the house greeted them, looking at Sam with a frown.

"Ah, I thought you wouldn't mind. This is Samantha Carter."

"I don't mind, you know I must report this, right?" She asked with a thick accent.

"Don't worry, do what you must. Just take us to my patient," They walked fast and got a couple of levels down, where the lake was kept from entering the building by thick transparent walls. "What do we know?"

"You have a little over twenty minutes to get it out before it reaches maturity. We lowered the temperature as far as we could in the isolation chamber, but you know as well as I, that our coldest one isn't enough, not for this kind of containment."

"Then let's gear up as fast as we can," Will added. "See you in three."

Helen nodded, before pointing Sam towards another door. Inside, she threw the bag she was carrying to the floor and proceed to take a couple of wetsuits out of it, she threw one to Sam, and then started to get naked and redressed. Sam frowned turning around and following Helen's lead.

"The Kithapholus is a water lizard. To contain it, they fill one room with water from the lake, and then they lower the temperature to just above freezing point. If we take the water out, then he will become extremely agitated and will attack us. Therefore…" Helen trailed.

"We need to go inside the ice cube?"

"Yes."

"I was afraid you would say that."

"It will be a great experience, one you can't tell anyone, but a great experience nonetheless," Helen commented, opening the door and walking briskly toward the chamber. Will had joined them, and she followed them both. And she couldn't avoid the way her eyes widened because when Magnus told her it was a lizard, she never imagined it could be that big.

The thing was gigantic! The Doctor had already jumped in the containment pool, and she was touching the floor, and the thing was almost as high as her. And it was incredibly long, the tail was rolled a couple of times, and she wondered if it was its tail or if it was a snake abnormal or the petro thing.

"You may come in if you want to," Helen announced her. She touched the lizard carefully and then she stopped. "Hmm, scalpel… I'm sorry, this is going to be quite the mess," And then, she put safety glasses on and made an incision of thirty centimeters long, and blueish liquid came out of the lizard. "I see it; we need to take it out now!"

Will moved as fast as he could and then someone else jumped in. Helen grabbed a syringe and stabbed inside the incision, and a loud squeal was heard. It took Sam some time to figure it didn't come from the lizard. Sam couldn't see much from her position on the side of the room, she saw Helen's movements, but no specifics of what the Doctor was doing.

"Quickly, pull now!" Helen announced, and Will and the newcomer started to pull, "Head is coming… Watch your hands!", It was something white, and they kept pulling until what looked about the size of a Burmese python came out squealing loudly. They pushed the boa like creature out of the container and into a smaller one. "Add flurazepam to the containment!" Helen directed, before continuing to close the mess it had made inside the lizard. Once they had managed to contain the Petro, Will moved to help Helen with the stitches. "Well done William" she smiled brightly at him.

"Same back at you," he winked. "Thank God this one won't complain about my awful sewing skills."

"It's not like I'm doing a suture worth of a plastic surgeon either. Closing is more important than the look right now; he has lost enough blood to be out cold for a week."

"So, this thing is blood?" Sam asked now joining them to check the lizard from near.

"Yes, believe it or not, the pigment of his blood was used to dye clothes. The natives used to bring it to a closed pool, similar in structure to a Roman bath. And then, they would make an incision big enough to make them bleed, but not enough to kill them. Then, when the water was of the blue they wanted, they dragged the Kithapholus out of it, and deposited the clothes on the pool."

"That's…"

"Quite disgusting, yeah! There are many other weird things around," Will shrugged. "I don't know all the historical facts from the top of my head, but I've read the most bizarre histories by hanging around the library back home."

"Go on; you can touch it if you like." Helen provided not raising her eyes from her work, "the water is cold enough to make it enter its hibernation cycle. It will be asleep for the next two months."

"Where does this come from? How is possible we don't know about it?" Sam asked, grimacing at the feel of the cold, sticky skin of the abnormal.

"Ah, the last one emerged on the coast of Japan. Way before the uprising, it was in our hands until the attack on Japan. The cabal raided our Sanctuaries, and they seemed like a valuable species, reality is, that the only attribute they have is the dying abilities of their blood. Other than that, they don't even have another way to protect themselves; we theorize it is due to its size."

"Uh, well, for sure I wouldn't come near it by myself."

"This one is from its time at the Cabal's hands," Helen pointed to a scar that ran along the spine of the lizard, "thankfully its mate was transported to India back then due to her pregnancy, and that kept her from falling into their hands. Now both live here, well, in their private accommodations," Helen finished the last stitch and moved around. "Shall we? No matter how thermic Henry managed to make these things, I'm freezing."

They moved out of the water tank, and back to the room where they got changed. Helen took a quick shower to warm up, and so did Sam. And as soon as they were both out, Helen walked out of the room and nodded at Sam to follow. She showed her the tank in which the female Kithapholus and their litter were waiting.

"They are going to cool down the environment, to help mother and child to go into hibernation. Then their cycle won't be ruined because of this event. Once the weather is set, then they will bring the one we just worked on"

"What else is here?"

"Due to the limits of our current situation, reorganizations were made to improve the care and skills. Pili and her team were assembled to take care of most of the sweet water, and warm weather life forms. Pili is human, and she and her family have been working with us for a long time."

"Not quite as long as you, Helen."

"Well, that would be a difficult mark for anyone." She nodded. "As you can imagine, Doctor Carter came with the team we encountered while tracking and capturing our latest guests."

"Similarity between you two is remarkable," she exchanged a quick look with Helen, "but that's not of importance, how is Kyoto? How is the Petro?"

"The intervention was done in time and manner, a few minutes longer and the history would be different. We are taking the Petro back with us, will you be a dear and ask Mohammed and Jason, to help us out with the transport? We just need to upload it to the sphere, and we are ready to go. I'll get Ashley for the rest of the way."

"How is she faring?"

"She's …. Improving." Helen completed after considering her words.

"I'm glad; I will wait for your confirmation on the leaves to send you my recommendation of whom can fulfill the opened positions pro tempore."

"Will do. Have you seen Will?"

"He is probably by the ptero holding; you know how he likes that bird."

"Well, we are going to look out for him, and we will be out of your hair in no time."

"Mom, how did it go?" her radio interrupted the conversation, Pili waved and disappeared along with a corridor, Helen started to walk in the opposite way.

"We got in time, a minute later and we wouldn't make it."

"Cool, radio in when you are at the gate so we can pick it. Henry is prepping the container as we speak. Tesla mentioned something about rewiring the vibration of the cage."

"See you in a bit then."

"Wait, you said we are under Mumbai, right?" Helen nodded, "And we were before under the US…" Helen nodded again, "I don't want to think how is possible to complete that travel in such a short time, but, how is possible for the radios to work in such a long-distance?"

"Well, travel was done differently than we would if we were topside. Planes can only speed so far unless you are using one of ours. Did I ever mentioned how useful can Nikola be?" Helen smiled, Sam nodded with a grin. "Years ago, he developed a way to improve the traveling speed without the passenger noticing it. Both Doctor Frasier and Doctor Jackson were on board of a plane which could reduce the time spent in a 60%. Now add the technology that it was here, and the structure of the hollow Earth and you saw our railway system."

"A.k.a the spheres. I love this bird," he added, and Sam's eyes widened when she saw the pterodactyl.

"Radio system works differently also; we shouldn't even call it radio. However, it was far easier since most of the staff was already used to them. The voice is transformed into something similar to e.m pulses, and they refract and bounce around the rocks. "

"The whole thing is a giant router."

"Wait, you meant to tell me you managed to create the FTL comm? Like in star trek?"

"What is Star Trek?" Helen asked in confusion. Sam opened her mouth to answer, but she didn't know how to explain that one, then Helen smiled, "I'm joking. It's a kind of subspace communication; we don't need to pursue a full development of it due to the rock structure. You will want to ask details to Nikola, I know how to make it work, and I can see how it works or rather, how it should work, but he's the one who knows the names behind it."

"Just for your own good, avoid mention of death rays and/or death beams."

"Beams and rays aren't similar … at all," Sam added in shock, and Helen giggled.

"I'm sorry William, but you walked yourself into that one."

"Ah, mom?"

"Yes, Ashley?" She answered her radio with a frown

"You might want to hurry up, crank the sphere up a little… they are looking for Sam."

"Will do."

When they arrived at the doors, the Petro was already waiting for them in the sphere. They jumped in and started their travel, Helen lowered a panel to grant her access to the sphere controls. Sam frowned, whatever text that was, it looked a lot like Ancient writing. Helen stopped her modifications for a little while.

"Samantha, will you move to the other side…" Sam frowned at the request but nodded and moved. "You both might want to hold onto something," she grinned and held herself tightly to a hold she found. And then, she pressed the palm on the screen, and they were all pushed back against the walls. Then it was as if that never happened. "The decelerating process will be slower. Therefore we won't be flying to the other side when it happens."

"What exactly happened?"

"We are traveling half the speed of light; the acceleration process was too brusque and produced what we've just experienced. It's not dissimilar to what occurs when a plane takes off."

"Half the … and you have stabilizers inside," Sam added, looking around. "That's… Wow… This technology... this…"

"I will advise to keep your mouth closed, for now; you don't want to give away something you are not supposed to." Helen smiled

"But… We need this! Things like this"

"We plan to give them away," Helen smiled," but your Colonel won't like it."

"You plan to exchange this for me?"

"No, I plan to trade this… For the absolute security, your base won't rattle too loud our whereabouts. I plan to stay dead as long as I need to for things to calm down up there."

"Gotcha."

"As I told you before, I won't mind at all, if you decide you are interested in knowing more, about whatever you want to know more. And I will find a way to cope if you don't…. and we are arriving."

"How do you know?" After all, there were no windows on the sphere.

"Comm is back up, Nikola is yet to find a way to communicate when at full speed."

"He theorizes it as possible?" She asked in awe, while they walked out of the sphere.

"At the Sanctuary, we don't believe in impossible feats, only in very difficult to obtain," Helen smiled and grabbed her radio, "Ashley we are here."

"Cool!," Ashley's voice came from the other side of the gate, "I still need you to unlock the door," Helen walked down and repeated the process she had when they were going out, and the doors were opened. "Are you going to walk to have a way to justify your whereabouts?"

"That's probably a magnificent idea; they will know if I'm lying."

"We can pair you up with Henry; I'm pretty sure they won't be bothered if you explain to them you were holed up with him learning our tech," Will offered.

"Henry's lab is blocked from their maps; it should be hard, if not impossible for them to locate you there…"

"Hum, you are right, if I say tech enthralled me, they won't doubt it, and they won't ask too many questions."

By then, Ashley had disappeared with the container and reappeared next to them, watching them closely. Then she huffed, patience was never her best trait. She grabbed both Helen and Sam from their arms and linked her leg with Wills and transported them all to Henry's lab. While they adjusted to the change of scenery and weather, she disappeared and appeared with the wolf in tow.

"Huh… what are we all doing in here?" he asked a bit confused. "I was supposed to check the container for the petro with Vlad."

"How much time do you need?"

"Five-ten min…" He managed to say before disappearing.

"Well, this is Henry's lab. Just know the technology you saw today is not his forte, he develops our system and some of our weapons. He has trouble with the language."

"Yeah, about that… where's that from?" She was going to say she had never seen that before, but she couldn't outright lie to them.

"It's an ancient dialect."

"And you understand it?"

"Understand it? She speaks it natively like the many others, she picked during her lifetime," Will commented, then he checked his watch, "I gotta go, I have an appointment with Magiuch."

"Take Kate with you."

"What about Doctor/patient confidentiality?" Helen raised her eyebrow.

"Last time you were alone with him, we found you stuck to the ceiling. And before that, you were stuck to the entrance wall… And "

"Yeah, yeah… Got the picture. Kate and a stunner, I presume."

"Atta boy!" Helen winked at him. He raised his eyebrow unamused.

"You are spending too much time with Nikola!" He threw over his shoulders, leaving the room.

"Don't say his name thrice or he might appear," she shouted at him, making him laugh.

"You do have the weirdest relationships…"

"Yeah, and you haven't heard half of them… come to think about, Mom, you had way too many relationships," Ashley added squinting at her mom.

"Dude! That's not something I wanted to remember!" Henry added.

"Suck it up, Henry."

"I'll leave you be kids before Ashley can come up with more scarring thoughts she can't possibly filter out."

"So… what I'm supposed to do?" Henry asked, looking from Ashley to Sam.

"How should I know?"

"Can you talk tech to me?"

"Ah, a woman after my own heart… Just don't tell that to Erika, she might kill me and swear she just lost control."

"Henry's girl was under treatment at a facility that was meant to keep their kind controlled; she's the first HAP pregnant in a long while." Ashley explained, "But, she can't control her shifting. Mom found a way to stop her from changing"

"It protects the baby… But she's been pregnant for almost 20 months. She's more than ready to pop, but we cannot do it yet," he sighed, "it's been terrible for deciding furniture for the room. Anyhow, tech… Weapons? Software? What are you after?"

"Whatever you can give me… what's a HAP?"

"Ah, it stands for hyper-accelerated protean life form. I'm a class nine." He grinned proudly, Sam raised her eyebrow, "Can you not do that? It's kinda too Magnus…."

"Will you explain what's a class nine HAP?"

"Sure… I'm a werewolf."

"A werewolf?" She chuckled, "like moon howling, silver bullet dodger, big furry wolf?"

"They did a freakily awesome job to hide our realities back then… no full moon howling or silver bullet thing, just big furry wolf whenever I want to change it."

"What do you mean with hiding our realities?"

"They didn't tell you? They provided false information to authors way back when, and books were written, and the myth was created. Nothing is more efficient to stop people from believing something that is adding it to a sci-fi book or show."

"Uncle James was the real Sherlock Holmes; he developed the same abnormality Will has. Nikola is Count Dracula… Nigel was the invisible man…"

"And your father?"

"He didn't need a book; he made himself known enough with his nickname of "Jack the Ripper"… Mom, though, she's the one who didn't get a book. People wrote her tons of music's; she's more like hiding in plain sight. Or was, you know with the whole blowing up my home issue, she can't go up using her own name."

"The weird thing is, she's allowing all of you to know it. I know that even your boss knows she will be up there..." Henry added worriedly "I do hope she does have a good plan, I don't want to see her blowing herself up again."

"I hope we possess something that you will need… otherwise, we are screwed." Ashley added.

"How's that?"

"You know, basic hostage negotiation… You have something I want, I have something you want, we make a ridiculous plan to exchange it," Ashley explained, "Mom, is not bad at it. So, are Tesla and Will. I guess I can be the plan X in case something goes awfully wrong."

"Huh, she mentioned something … hopefully it will be in my hands to recommend it. Or better yet, hopefully, my team will realize you are not a threat and yes a help."

"Oh, well… here's to hope."


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello, we are going to the SGC!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **M.**

 **Chapter Nineteen.**

"How long do you think they will be here?" Will asked as she curled up with him later that day. She looked up at him with a smile.

"Well, Samantha is fully recovered. Doctor Jackson probably has a day or two of recovery to get rid of the last cells. Teal'c is back on his own two feet. It's Colonel O'Neill reticence to take our meds which worry me. And after, calculating his new dosage, I concluded that he needs to add at least three intakes. Or prolongate the treatment…"

"He won't take more than what he was having"

"Exactly, and as we can't exactly give him all that he needs in the two doses he is taking…"

"He will be under an extended treatment."

"Yes… I'll say three to four days before he is completely clean."

"Hmm."

"It's something the matter?" She asked, raising her head from his chest enough to look at him. He moved a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Not really, you look exhausted."

"It's been a long day," she sighed. And he caressed her side, and she flinched, he raised his eyebrow. "Ah, Ashley… it wasn't that bad; she only lost it for a minute. Nothing too significant."

"Let me take a look."

"There's no need; it's halfway healed already," she dismissed. But with one look at his face, she moved away and sat on the bed, lifting the camisole she was wearing. The bruising on her side went from under her breast to an inch or two above her hipbone.

"I thought it wasn't bad…"

"It's not. If you remember the time around you first knowing about them," she added with a sheepish smile. "I just need to rest, and I'll be perfect in the morning."

"Helen…"

"I know."

"Have you fed yourself at least?"

"I had something before I joined her. And we are going to sleep, so there's no issue if I hadn't," Will jumped out of bed, "where are you going?"

"If you are not going to take care of yourself, then let me do it." He added with a soft smile. "I love you, and you know that"

"Very well then, I'll wait for you to feed me instead of succumbing to sleep," she whispered dramatically. "But you will have to deal with the consequences of feeding me at this time of the night," she grinned mischievously.

"You won't hear a complaint from me."

"Then, hurry up William."

As usual, she was right. By the time she shuffled in bed early in the morning, and he opened his eyes enough to see her bareback, and by extension the side in which the purple, yellow and green mark was marring her skin the previous night, there was nothing left but the soft, creamy white skin. He smiled.

He didn't care if that wasn't the norm, but he loved to care for her. He knew he was one of the few who had managed to be there for her. And he delighted in the feeling of knowing she allowed him to be there, he knew she was the one with the control in their relationship, and he didn't care as long as the moments in which they could be blissfully happy kept coming.

Five floors below, Jack was stirring in his bed. Magnus had forced him to stay in the infirmary for the night. And unsurprisingly, he found a blonde mane resting in the bed close to his hand. He felt his emotions rise and gulped. How she found him worthy of her care, he didn't know. Why she kept coming to watch over him every time he found himself in this situation, was another of the mysteries he knew he couldn't solve; and even if he could, he wouldn't risk to try out for fear of losing her.

He caressed the blond hair and sighed. He still remembered the texture from the few and far between times in which he woke up like this, or from those awful situations in which caressing her hair was the only way he found to help her. She sighed happily and turned her head around, messy hair and barely open eyes, she looked lovely.

"Morning," she whispered to him, and he nodded.

"Good morning," he added with a raspy voice.

"How are you feeling?"

"Improved, I guess." He shrugged, he opened his mouth to complain, but she shook her head no, stopping him from continuing.

"I was worried, you know?" She confessed in a whisper, after looking behind her to make sure no one else was around yet. "For a moment, what I saw could happen to you was too real and even when I managed to put it out of my mind… it was there, this nagging feeling that I might lose you before I can know what is like to have you," she bit her lower lip. "I don't like that feeling, Jack."

"Sam…"

"Please, don't say anything. I'm just really glad you are okay… or feeling better, at least, feeling better and being under treatment is the best outcome so far. I know you are supposed to stay here, but I'm famished, do you need anything?"

"You? Hungry?" she nodded quickly, "go get something. I'll be right here until both Doctors agree I can go out. I do hope they don't take long."

"It's for your own safety. Here you are under a constant scan. And they can both, be sure you are taking your meds. You know you wouldn't be here if you did that from the beginning."

"I know, I know."

"I'll bring you some coffee, maybe you are lucky, and I can find some bacon and eggs too," she said from the threshold, before turning around and almost run to the kitchen.

After that, she did all in her power not to be caught alone with him, even if the next morning had found her in the exactly the same position. This time, the hand who woke her up was Helen's, she saw the knowing glint and the lack of judgment and smiled at her. Then, they walked to the kitchen for some breakfast. That morning, Jack was back at the room he was before.

"Almost entirely recovered, Colonel," Helen's voice had affirmed, and he almost jumped in excitement, he hated infirmaries, no matter how fancy they were.

During previous and following days, SG-1 made themselves scarce, as the Sanctuary team followed their daily routines of feeding, checking, medical examinations, psychological support, training, development, and all they did in their regular basis. Trying to stay as far away from the military team as the building allowed them to.

Although, while trying to avoid Jack, Sam had found herself searching for the Sanctuary team. She had joined Henry, Tesla, Ashley, Kate and Helen in a kind of routine. From early to an hour or so before midday, she was always in Nikola's lab, learning about all he was willing to tell her. And it was Nikola; he was always willing to explain things that for others would be way over their heads.

At that point, Ashley would show up. She remembered Sam mentioned she loved riding, so, she had recruited her to do boundaries check up with her, which Sam was delighted to do, once she saw the many options for rides she had. Ashley laughed at the expression on Sam's face when Helen joined them with her riding gear the first day.

"So, love for fast rides is your fault then?" Sam had added with a frown. And Helen nodded sheepishly, before mounting her bike. "VRSC A V-Rod … Harley Davidson," Sam whispered in awe.

"With minor modifications," Helen grinned mischievously, Sam understood what those minor adjustments where once she was speeding herself on it the following day.

By then, she simply picked one ride she hadn't tried before and jumped in, and soon she was joining Ashley on her tour, while Helen checked the other side. It was practical and fun. After that first day, Ashley had insisted on Sam joining Kate and her on the firing range, with the adrenaline of the ride still fresh she had accepted before she completely knew what she was signing into.

The "shooting range" was a huge room, complete with traps and things firing back at you, which apparently, the Sanctuary team used to train. Kate and Ashley quickly fell into place, and Sam found herself enjoying, her military technique was immediately praised and welcomed.

After lunch, in which she joined her team to exchange whatever conversation they would, like usual. Henry found her because Nikola mentioned she could help him with the calculus for the protection for the new net weapon. And she found herself visiting him until five, in which he pushed her towards Helen's office because it was tea time and he had a wife to tend.

So, she walked there and picked a book and sat there, while Helen's worked in her things. Since the books in Helen's office were mostly about history close to her, Sam often asked her things she could explain simply and with an earnest look, quite enjoying the disturbance of her questions. On that first day, she saw Helen frowning at something she was reading; then a call was placed, the language she spoke was not something Sam understood, but then Helen had stormed out of the office and returned with a thick looking book. She read through it eagerly, until she smiled brightly.

"What?"

"I knew I was right, but you know… man, they are always explaining things to me as if I don't know it myself. Like how Normandy was the only thing that managed to stop the total devastation of WWII. Yeah, right."

"Do I even want to know?" She asked

"Ah, this is an easy one," she pointed to the book, "a Saharan spider bite, Hassam was trying to convince me that they are sleep inducers and the best treatment was to keep the patient monitored and awake. However, that's not entirely accurate. The bite produces sleepiness, yes, but that spider only bites if they are ready for placing their eggs which are…"

"Placed through the bite?"

"Yes, pretty much."

"And Normandy?"

"Well, if we failed to capture the fire elemental which was under Nazi hands, and was about to become an angry one. Then, no allies could have stopped the disaster. We would be all consumed by a firestorm with no end."

"I guess I like the D-Day story better, less terrifying."

"Yes, so do I. Although my first D-Day was far better than my second one, and that's one I will gladly keep to myself."

Jack also found himself falling into a routine. He had morning checkups with Doctor Magnus; then he was free to roam around. During the duration those days, he wondered as far as his legs would allow him to go, considering he was supposed to be back for lunch, and for dinner and his night check up. Teal'c joined him twice for which he was grateful.

With Teal'c secure presence next to him, he found himself trying to come up with an escape plan, but he couldn't find one. The enormity of the situation in which they were caught up with him when he finally had to set his eyes on the sky, to find only rock above his head.

It took him some time to accept what he was seeing. And even if he wasn't a believer on that 'we are underground' thing they had told him at some point. It was finally seeing the rocks above his head and realizing that the thing shining brightly wasn't by far the sun, was what made his mind grasp the concept. It seemed so impossible, to be that far under and see the river, or feel the breeze, or the warmth of the sun and yet, here he was feeling all of those underground.

And if he ignored the fact that they were on Earth, he could feel better at ease when eyeing the creatures and plants which roamed around. But never close enough for him to reach for them if he thought of it as just another backwater planet in which they were trapped in until his nerds got all they wanted from them.

Janet and Daniel spent most of their time holed up in the library. Janet had tried to find the area she was with Magnus that day, but she couldn't and found herself drawn to the medical area instead. And she found it had a very eclectic collection of books in several languages and species. Daniel was attracted to the historical part of it. He too was amazed by the vast amount of volumes and the variety of languages.

"Huh, I get this is a result of a massive worldwide research, kind of like the Google of the civilization for the different areas they study. What I don't get," Daniel commented loudly, when he first started going through them, "is why if you have all these resources you will keep them in different languages. I have a wide variety to choose, but … what good does it make if you can't understand it?" Janet chuckled.

"I guess a display of power, and you should know better than I that first copies are the most expensive ones, especially if they are in good condition."

"Yeah, but … that would make sense if some of them weren't signed. I mean, look at this one," he brought a brown worn out leather tome to her, and pointed to some obscure language, "it says 'For Magnus, if someone can understand the dark musings of my mind it trusts it will be you.' And this is from Hormuzd Rassam."

"Well, both of you have a remarkable good point," Helen smiled as they both jumped. She had been listening to them for a while, amazed of how not even the loud clicking of her shoes could bring attention to her. "I didn't mean to scare you; I thought you might have heard me approach."

"Doctor Magnus," both said, and she smiled.

"I thought you would be calling me Helen or Magnus by now, anyhow. Hormuzd was a close friend… Of the Sanctuary. He had some ideas archeologist would find outrageous, and he couldn't publish, and here we thrive with those kinds of ideas."

"Now, on the language part, as you could have assumed by the book in your hand, part of this collection was donated by the writers themselves. I know there are a couple of tomes signed by Darwin in the biology section. We couldn't ask them to translate them; we are talking about their most obscure and precious ideas."

"These books hold the ones they couldn't afford to share with the world without being thoroughly discredited. I believe you are acquainted with that, Doctor Jackson" Daniel had nodded. "Most of them couldn't afford to lose the name they had made for themselves out of fear that given these ideas they would be considered a joke. Or the ones who had become part of what we know as a collective truth would be taken as a lie too," Then she walked past them and toward a bookshelf, she grabbed the stair, went up, grabbed a book and took her down with her. "I need some light reading," she told them before disappearing again.

"You know, sometimes I have the feeling she's playing with us," Janet commented.

"Or hiding something… or I'll risk it and say it's because she looks that much like Sam and our experiences with Sam's look-alikes aren't exactly the best."

"Yeah, there's that too."

And now, four days later, SG-1 was waiting in the library. Janet, Sam, and Daniel were observing the size of the library once more. Daniel's crestfallen expression talked a lot about what he wanted to do.

"Come on space monkey; we've been here too long."

"You know, Jack, this would have been shorter if you listened to them from the start," Daniel pointed out joining the team. "And if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be stuck here for the extra days, and therefore, I wouldn't have started on this…"

"Yeah, yeah… blame it on the old man."

All of them were back on their clothes. Or at least they thought they were; they had been replaced by new BDU's without their knowledge. The fact they couldn't quite remember the attack and how it had affected the clothes they were wearing was a huge plus to keep them believing the uniforms were theirs.

"If you are all quite ready," Helen commented entering the room. "Please follow me," she walked them to the entrance where the same golf carts Sam had seen on site four were waiting for them. Helen walked to one vehicle, and the members of her team followed her lead until SG-1 figured they should do the same.

"How are you feeling today, Erika?" she asked to the very pregnant woman who was seated behind the driving wheel.

"As well as one can expect, I want him out by now," she confessed.

As Jack and Sam jumped in the cart with them, Erika turned around and wearily introduced herself to the other two, and then she and Helen fell into an easy conversation about Erika's fears over her pregnancy. Erika's easy demeanor managed to make even Jack talk and provide her with some tips.

On the second one cart, Kate and Henry completely ignored Teal'c and Janet and talked all the way to the elevator out about the new improvements on guns.

"You know, I'm going to miss Sam, she was a good partner for the firing range," Kate huffed at some point.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I will miss having someone who listens to my tech talk and doesn't laugh when she knows I'm completely embarrassing myself."

"Aw, that's right, you are going to be stuck with Vlad again, poor thing."

But the one who was extremely glad they arrived was Daniel, he was the first one to jump out of the cart, and it was understandable since he got stuck with the fun ride. Will and Nikola bickering was constantly interrupted by Declan. But when Daniel almost tripped to get down, Declan couldn't avoid but chuckling.

"You were bickering like a married couple again, weren't you?" Helen's voice came from behind them, making both of them blush.

"You know them, boss, they can't stop themselves, even if they try." He chuckled, "I'll blame it to your Magnus charm," Declan told her, grinning. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "See you in a week?"

"That's the plan, yes," She smiled.

"Then, I'll hope you stick to the plan this time," Declan grinned. "Your things are in the elevator already. Bags were divided as per your orders."

"And their weapons."

"In the container, you can unlock it when you are out there."

"Good luck, Helen," Erika waved, after kissing Henry goodbye.  
"Yeah, good luck Doc! Try not to need to get killed again" Kate winked. The two women jumped in the cars they were driving before and started the way back.

"This way then," she told the military team, and they were loaded on a cargo elevator. Along with a black unmarked SUV. "The second vehicle is already topside. We didn't know how you arrived at the site before; my guess is Henry took charge of it?"

"I… was I supposed to?" Henry asked, confused; she never told him a thing.

"No, not you."

"Oh… the other Henry, gotcha… I'll never get used to it."

"William, the second vehicle was set for you by Declan…take Henry and Ashley. I'm taking three of you with Nikola and me on this one."

"What do you mean with it's set for you?" Jack frowned. "Teal'c, Janet… you go with them. If they attempt anything Teal'c…" The three younger members of the Sanctuary team rolled their eyes.

"Dude, you were, for a little over a week, at our hands and we didn't touch a hair on your head. Why would we do it now?" Ashley asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Carter, Daniel… you both with me, and them." He finished ignoring Ashley's question.

"Then, please enter this one, and you can see why it's set for me," Helen sat in the driver's seat and looked down to the console, a quick retinal scan was made. The wheel glowed in two different sites, and as Helen grabbed it, her fingers connected with the blue lights of the finger scans on the wheel.

"Scan check, please confirm identity."

"Helen Magnus," she pronounced clearly. "We carry many things on our SUV's, we need them to be safe, and we can't afford to lose them or the contents to anyone."

"Hence, we had to develop a way to make them with unique settings to recognize a couple of drivers."

"Recognized voice pattern: Nikola Tesla. Recognized facial scans: Colonel Johnathon Jack O'Neill, Air Force. Doctor Major Samantha Carter, Air Force. Doctor Daniel Jackson, Air Force Consultant. The transfer is safe." And then, the engine started.

The elevator stopped, and they got to what seemed like the parking lot of a building. There was a second SUV waiting just outside the elevator. And the rest of the members of the group walked towards it.

"Checking comms," came Will's voice and video came from the panel in the middle of the dashboard.

"Comm's are active." Helen smiled, knowing they too could see them.

"Are we going to see the wizard?" Ashley asked joyfully, appearing briefly on the screen. Helen sighed, and Sam rubbed her face.

"Straight to Cheyenne Mountain. Don't stop. Over"

The screen was then divided in two. In one, they could see what happened behind them. Basically, they could see Will's SUV front lights. The second part showed the way to the Mountain.

"This is exciting! I'm not going over underground government compounds since my stint with SCIU!" Nikola whispered excitedly.

"Well, I feel safer with you by my side," Helen started.

"Aww, Helen darling, I knew you always liked me better."

"I was going to say: than leaving you behind to create a havoc back home." She grinned.

"You are mean!" He pouted

"You are impossible."

"I'm your oldest friend!"

"You are an acquired taste!"

"How did you two meet? I mean, I understand you both are abnormals and all," Daniel questioned.

"Ah, we met in college. Oxford… she was wearing a lovely red dress, very daring."

"Oxford? I never knew the great Nikola Tesla went to Oxford," Sam frowned

"Well, there are things I don't share in my bio."

"So, wait, you are the Nikola Tesla."

"The one and only," Helen smiled, "that's why I keep him around, he knows too much, and we don't want him giving away another death beam."

"It was a death ray! Helen, death ray!" he huffed. She laughed, "You are a such a bully, alas… that's how we met, in Oxford. I was drawn to her like a moth to the flame, and I could never leave after that…" He sighed dramatically.

"Except, when I had to kill you." She looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"Or when you died, yes."

"Or when you decided to mount your clinic in Mexico."

"Oh! Are you really going to bring that one out? I could bring Peru up." He squinted.

"That's low, Nikki, I can bring Colombia."

"What about …" he hummed, "Namibia."

"Ouch, Iceland!"

"You both know you are just throwing country names to each other, right?" Sam asked from the back seat. Helen frowned, risking a glance from the rearview, and Nikola turned around outraged.

"Just countries! Those are the most embarrassing situations we've managed to put ourselves into! Not countries!"

"I think Sam's right though, you are just quoting country names to try and maybe impress us," Daniel chimed in.

"Why would someone find country name tossing impressive?"

"I don't know; maybe you want to show off how many places you've been to."

"Your theory doesn't make any sense to me, Doctor Jackson. It makes me wonder how you managed to get that much information correct for your book before…"

"Nikola!"

"Well, why would I keep wondering if I have the man sitting right there, Helen?"

"Because, you are being rude," she hissed, and he rolled his eyes.

"You know me, dear… I'm always like this. Tell me, Doctor Jackson, how on Earth did you come with that theory of yours?"

"I…"

"You don't need to answer it, Doctor Jackson. He's just his annoying self."

"How did you come with your theories?" He asked back

"Well, they are obvious. If you understand what happens in the vibrational and energetic level; everything becomes much clearer."

"You don't really want to go there, either, Doctor… " Helen grimaced, "there won't be a route long enough for half of his explanations."

"I think you are both lying about how you met, and that's why you are creating this distraction of sorts," Jack pointed. Nikola turned around

"Oh! He speaks! It's a miracle! Helen, we should stop, and you should make an exam… maybe we are approaching the end of the world as we know it!"

"Don't pester him, Nikola," Helen huffed, "We, in fact, met at Oxford, Colonel O'Neill. And I was wearing a red dress. I was trying to make a statement of sorts, and somehow, I got Nikola in exchange. And he was also telling the truth when he said he is the oldest friend I have left. My line of work complicates relationships to a new level."

"And being an abnormal doesn't?"

"Not per se, many humans believe I was just one of you. My appearance helps, so does Nikola's. Although, at the moment, having my face is quite complicated, which makes me wonder how on Earth no one tried to reach Samantha thinking she was me. But the same situation is what grants me today, the chance to park inside the mountain."

"You got an inner parking place?" Daniel asked, "I'm trying to get one since forever now!"

"Having a couple of decent contacts topside does help," she smiled mysteriously.

 **Hammond's POV**

 **SGC**

 **Briefing room**

In the last days, I have received two of the strangest phone calls in my entire career. And what disturbs me the most about it, is the little fact that I run a facility in which aliens share bodies, or beam my officers away without asking or announcing themselves.

But what can I say? I do have a direct line to the President, and more often than not, I must use it to communicate the chaos which can occur inside. What I don't do, is receiving calls from the President ordering me to send my CMO out with someone completely unknown to an entirely unknown location nor asking me to prepare not one, but five NDA's to people completely unrelated to the military or political or to anything. His specific order to avoid background checks was what intrigued me the most. Followed by the names they would be using to sign up in both entry forms weren't the ones in the files. But 'They are all clear' he had said and who am I to contradict an order from the Oval Office? I did ask him a couple of questions to confirm I was talking with our President Henry Hayes and not with an alien version, or a clone or whatever it could be replacing him. But he came out clean.

"It is true?" Catherine Langford asks somewhat storming into my office, and I frown, I haven't seen Catherine in a while.

"Catherine, hello… what are you doing here?"

"I got some information related to the SGC. I want to know if it is true," she says in a voice that leaves no space for dismissal. And I don't know why I am surprised every time I see her. It's like she always has information about the things going on inside the mountain, even though she's been officially out of the SGC loop for many years now.

"Catherine. I will be honest with you," I start and she nods, "I have absolutely no idea of what are you talking about. All I know is that I have a meeting in a couple of minutes; but if you want to stay around, you are more than welcomed as per usual," I say.

"Oh! If you have a meeting, I'll wait in the mess hall, or better yet I'll go and pay a visit to Daniel. It's been a long time since the last time I visited him," she smiled.

"Daniel… Hum… He is not here, yet." I grimace, "actually, SG1 is part of the meeting. Perhaps, you can stay in it; it's a presentation of the Stargate Program to a group of civilians from a private research facility, you know the whole drill." If I didn't know Catherine I would have said she was about to pass out, but she smiles at me; a huge smile and there's something in her eyes that I can't quite place. She looks thrilled

"It is true, then," She whispers, mostly to herself. Or so it seems.

"If you can be more specific, Catherine, maybe I can answer you?" I try.

"I was informed that the Stargate Program was about to be presented to one private research facility, specifically a team from the Sanctuary. Am I right?"

All that I know about a Sanctuary is that if something goes wrong, I must press nine on my red phone speed dial and say to the Sanctuary to be ready for the worst. And what I know from these people is their names, which are written in the folders containing our NDA.

"You are absolutely right, my Dear Catherine," I hear someone answer her, I look up, and I'm presented with the possibility that I have been moved to yet another parallel universe because I am seeing a dark haired oldish version of Sam

"Oh my God! It is you! Helen Magnus! I thought you were dead!"

"Supposedly I am," the woman agreed.

"Well, the afterlife suits you… It's been such a long time since the last time I saw you!"

The two women embrace, and I hear someone clearing his throat in the background. I don't know if I am too astounded to say anything or if my curiosity is taking the best of me because all I can do is hear the exchange without saying anything at all

"My Dear Catherine, you look gorgeous as ever." The man grins at Catherine and extends his arms waiting for her to jump.

"Nikola Tesla!" She chuckles and embraces him quickly, taking a step back to look at him. "You will never change!"

"You know that is, in fact, right," the Tesla guy winks at Catherine

"So, I guess they don't know about…" she trails, and both nod once.

"No, they don't know a thing about… the Sanctuary relationship with this program." Sam look-alike says.

"Oh, I think they will be surprised."

"Catherine?" Comes from Sam, and I sigh in relief. They look alike, but at least their voices are different, maybe is the accent. Whatever it is, I'll take it.

"Sam!" Catherine looks to Sam and then to Helen Magnus. And, I can't avoid just doing the same, they have a remarkable similarity, and at the same time they look different, "I knew there should be a reason behind why you always made me remember of someone."

"Well, I guess you three know each other," Daniel commented happily, embracing Catherine to greet her.

"Yes, indeed, Catherine is an old friend of us," the Carter-like woman says, "she was also a very valuated member for expeditions to the most varied places."

"This is General George Hammond from the SGC," Daniel introduces me politely. And I overhear O'Neill whispering to Sam

"I still don't get how everybody is an old friend of her," or at least he believes he whispers, Sam just grins at him.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, ma'am. I take you are the famous Doctor Helen Magnus the President was talking me about," she smiles and nods.

"It is my pleasure to meet you General."

"The President thinks highly of you," I can see SG1 eyes widening. "Can I ask how you two know each other?"

"Henry is an old friend of the family." It's all I get for an answer.

"And you know Dr. Langford as well?" This woman definitely has connections

"The Sanctuary Network financed many of Catherine's excavations; we also gave funding to her father. I'm sorry, I'm being unpolite, let me introduce you some of the members of my team. Doctor William Zimmerman, he is our forensic psychiatrist, among other things. Henry Foss, he is the Sanctuary Network Security Tech. Nikola Tesla,"

"Engineer, Doctor, overall genius!" He says

"And with that, he has already introduced his ego," a blond girl says, and Zimmerman and Foss laughs.

"And please meet my daughter Ashley Magnus."

"You made it!" Catherine whispers to her. Sincerely, or my ears work too damn well, or everybody needs to practice the whispering thing. I look at the girl who waves at me and then, I look back at her, and frown.

"You had to have her being really young, Doctor Magnus."

"Please, call me Helen or Magnus, General…" she smiles, "and Ashley is our most trained tactical personnel."

"For crying out loud!" Jack interrupts me before I can point that she avoided my comment, "can we start already, we still have to hear Danny-boy here chatting us to sleep!" I scowl Jack with a look, while I motion everybody to take a seat. The room is prepared to the regular presentation, Doctor Magnus takes a seat, and Tesla takes the chair next to her. I grab my usual spot, and for some reason, both Tesla and I get deathly glares from Doctor Zimmerman

"Well, let me dim the lights," Daniel says, and soon the room is filled with the bright light of the projector, he clears his throat before starting, "we are going to travel to a long time ago, specifically to El Cairo in 1928. There on a privately funded excavation, Catherine's father found a ring made of a metal unknown until a while ago; and with no time frame identifiable. The ring was covered with solid rock with engravings on it. Until a few years ago, there were errors in the translation of the text carved in the stone," he says passing images, I frown because I think I hear the Tesla guy saying

"Just not quite as I remembered," But when I turn towards them, all I see is Magnus smiling to him. When I hear her answer, "You cannot expect a brief presentation to be accurate with history. You and I both know they have no idea," And he nods back.

And I'm trying to figure out what those two know about the Stargate, and I am glad to be the one sitting next to them, at least I seem to be able to understand their whispered words.

"Sorry, do you have any questions so far?" Daniel asks. He seems kind of upset, but I guess this is the first time someone talks during his presentation, generally we just try not to fall asleep.

"No, please proceed," Doctor Magnus says, giving a warning glare in Nikola's direction.

"Come on, Helen, both of us know that it was easy to note these are constellations and not writing," Tesla whispers to her.

"Nikola, stop it!" She hisses, "we knew what it said, we couldn't have it, and you know it." She mumbles between her teeth.

"Hey, you two get a room or please share whatever you have to say with the class, will ya?" O'Neill says, and I just want to slap myself in the face, with his rudeness. They exchange a glance, a reaction that points to me that they have been subjected to Jack's temper for enough time to know him.

"We were just saying that it's quite easy to figure out those are a representation of constellations according to few writings in it," Tesla says getting up and pointing to places in the image. "And here, it's clearly written that 'a million years into the sky is Ra, the sun god, sealed and buried for all the time his Stargate.' Therefore, if we consider that for Ra to be millions of years into the sky, he should be somewhere in space and this … ring… must be a way to connect with his place in the universe."

"How do you know that?" Sam asks, eyebrow raised.

"Because, as I said before I am a genius, remember?" The Doctor shooks her head at his antics and nods him to return to his chair. He nods back and returns to his place. "Please Dr. Jackson, proceed I'll try to keep myself contained."

"Well, for some reason, Catherine contacted me and asked me to translate this, as Nikola already pointed out. I managed to translate the text, and I also saw we were treating with constellations and a code of sorts. I wasn't sure about that until they showed me, the Stargate," he said pointing out to where the protection windows were being lifted. Magnus stood up, so did Tesla.

"Bloody Hell! We were right."

"Jesus! We were right."

They mutter under their breaths simultaneously. I can see them exchange a look and then, they go back to their seats. The others are too confused to react with more than a frown and widened eyes, and yet, something annoys me about those two and is the fact that they didn't look surprised with the information.

"It seems to me you may continue DanielJackson," Teal'c says

"Well, the short version we went to a planet and found out about a Goa'uld pretending to be a God, in that case, Ra. We killed him and freed the people of Abydos, but two years later someone came through the gate. Jack, Sam, and others went back to Abydos, and we learned per some writings, the gate has a connection to thousands of gates around the galaxy. The Stargate program as a search facility started then. In our first mission, we were trapped, and Teal'c helped us to escape becoming an essential member of the SG-1, our team. Which is also the flag team."

"So, you have been around the universe?" The tech guy asked amazed

"Yeah, cool isn't?" Jack says

"That's too damn cool!" The tech, Henry, says, "Can I see the software you use?"

"Well, whatever techie thing you want to see has to go over Carter, she is the one who made the dial-up software," Jack tells him, I know how proud he is of Sam.

"You did? Cool, once again I'm proven right… you got the looks and the brain!" Henry says and then looked between Magnus and Sam and turned really red, "I.. uh… I just realized that I kinda said that my mo... boss is a milf… crap!"

"Henry, that's sounds completely wrong, dude." Ashley says, "but yeah you're right; mom's hot," she winks at her mother who rolls her eyes in response

"Well, this is a genuinely awkward conversation, and here I was thinking I had managed to do a fairly decent job raising you two, just for you to prove me wrong in a short conversation," everybody laughed at that.

"Ok, we did our part of the job, telling you about the Stargate program and all. So spit it out…" O'Neill says, "We all know you aren't saying the whole thing."


	20. Chapter 20

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Twenty**

"Sorry, Colonel," Janet interrupted, "I will like to hear all they have to share with us. But I want to make sure we are not dealing with Goa'ulds."

"Oh, they aren't," Catherine affirmed.

"I understand you know them, Catherine. And in any other circumstance, your word would have been enough. However, sir, they still must pass through our medical exams, and we already have breached the protocol for them."

"Don't worry, Catherine dear; even after we helped your alien friend with our equipment and knowledge, Dr. Frasier doesn't seem to trust in our equipment or analysis skills… or in ourselves," Nikola grinned.

"She might be on the right track with you, Nikola," Helen smirked.

"Oh, Helen, you wound me."

"It's not an issue, General. We want you to trust us, and if your safety protocol measures require us to be analyzed; then, by all means, we should go as soon as possible that way the results will be here sooner, and I hope with that, we shed some calm in your troubled minds," Helen nodded.

"Well, that and the fact we agreed to follow your protocols with Henry… You conceded to fast," he whispered to Helen. "Half an hour more and he would have changed his opinion."

"You know as well as I do, that's not true. Half an hour more, and Henry would have prohibited you from coming."

"Let me make them stop for a while… Magnus?" Will interrupted the bickering, Helen smiled at him, "Where do we go to get these exams? Since we already have agreed to them, I just want to get them over as soon as I can." Hammond nodded at Janet once, and she stood up

"Well, if you all follow me…" Janet trailed

"Do you mind if I join them, General?" Catherine asked.

"Of course, Catherine… you know about the SGC as much as the next officer," he nodded, and she joined the group.

"You know how much I hate needles, don't you?" Henry complained.

"You have like thousands of piercings, dude… same thing." Ashley rolled her eyes.

"You are complaining? I'm under Magnus exams almost every day."

"It's not her fault that you are clumsy, Will," Ashley says and laughs, "if you didn't fall, break, hit, get electrocuted, or offer yourself as abnormal food… she wouldn't have to check you up... at least not for that," she wriggled her eyebrows.

"Dude! That's mom…" Ashley raised an eyebrow; she still found cute that sometimes Henry considered Helen his mom, "our boss ... you are talking about!" Henry complained, and Will blushed.

"Oh hush! It doesn't matter if she's my mom or our boss, she still has needs," Ashley pointed bluntly.

"Ashley!" Will blushed deeper

"What? It's nothing but the truth."

"Oh, now I wish I had joined them in the elevator. This is getting highly uncomfortable."

Janet listened the exchange trying hard not to laugh. If she didn't know they worked for Helen and that Ashley was most likely an abnormal herself, then she would have thought they were just a well-knitted team. One who had to spend a lot of time holed up together and knew exactly which buttons to push to annoy each other and laugh at each other. When they arrived at the infirmary floor most of the group scrunched up their noses at the peculiar smell of disinfectant.

"What kind of tests we agreed to pass, Magnus?" Will whined, falling into step beside her, as they followed Janet

"We agreed to CT scans, for them to verify we are not lying about not having a symbiotic lifeform in our spine, and to a regular blood test. They will be looking for a specific protein marker and to check if we have Naquadah in our bloodstream."

"Yes, we also need to check you are all healthy. We will check for virus, infections, anything out of the usual."

"Anything?" Henry frowned, "What happens if we don't pass your test?" Henry said a little bit concerned

"Then you will be held until we figure out what to do with you."

"Oh, men! Magnus I don't want to be stuck. I have a wife and a kid on the way… Can I go home?" Henry pouted, Ashley had labeled the expression of his face as starved wolfy look.

"Why would you be held, according to your boss you don't have a thing to worry about, nor we have anything to worry about you." Janet smirked, "Unless, of course, you are hiding something…"

"Of course, there's nothing for you to worry. There's a lot for us to worry. However, I'm in a position to make your life a bit uncomfortable if you happen to try and do a full DNA test and scan." Helen smiled softly, and something in her demeanor made Janet understand, she was fully prepared to do it if she was pushed.

"Yes, I've been briefed about the negotiation between what you agree to be subjected to and what you didn't. I'm acutely aware of what we can and can't do," Janet confirmed.

"Then, by all means, let's start," Helen pointed.

"This way, please, whoever is going first," Janet finished walking towards one of the beds.

"Janet," Catherine called, "Can I use your office to talk to Helen while you do your tests on the others?"

"Sure, Catherine. My office is open, go ahead."

SGSGGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG

 **Catherine's POV**

I see the one who was introduced as Dr. William Zimmerman frown, and Helen winks at him, making him nod slightly at her and jump into the bed Janet had pointed him, not losing the eye contact.

"This way," I say to her, and I feel I've just interrupted some conversation no one else knew they were having. She grins at me and follows me to the end of the infirmary where Janet's office is. I want to find something to say before jumping into the subject I want to know but, she smiles at me knowingly.

"Go ahead, straight to the point will always be the fastest way."

 **"** I know not Nikola, nor you are normal, or rather, I know you both are abnormals. What about the people in your team?"

"Well, they look normal…" she chews her inner cheek, "however, no, they aren't. Henry is a HAP; Will has a mutation which allows his mind to work in a different way, he falls in the same range of abnormality that James had."

"Had?" I ask with a frown; I met James Watson a long time ago.

"Yes, we lost James a few years ago," Helen gulped, "I'm sorry, I have not talked about it with anyone. All the affected were already there or notified when he didn't get back from Bhalasaam," she cleared her throat, to contain her own feelings on the matter. Or so I guess.

"I'm truly sorry," I say, giving her hand a slight press, "I know what he meant to you."

"Yes, he was a dear friend. But as it is for most, his days on this Earth weren't as long as mine, "she smiled sadly. "There's only one human being in my current team, she decided she didn't want to come," her attempt on changing the subject wasn't that subtle, but I nod in agreement.

"So, they all are…" I trail, looking outside. They don't seem abnormal; they don't look abnormal. But then again, nor Helen, nor Nikola seem out of the ordinary or look close to their real ages.

"Yes."

"Why are you allowing them blood scans?"

"None of the presents will show anything irregular in a blood test. Our differences are DNA based, being that in the genome, structure or merely in the proteins. There will be two positive results for the protein they are searching for. However, we have already explained those cases or at least part of them."

"Would you tell them?" I say, pointing to Janet, "will you explain to them you are all abnormals?" I know SGC policies, and knowing Jack as well as I do, I can be sure he won't like the idea of abnormals running free at the SGC.

"They are vaguely aware of Nikola and my situation. So far, there were no more mentions or reactions; the antipathy and doubts came even before they knew. I do hope to spare them from telling or showing their skills," she smiled, biting the inside of her cheek. I inhale deeply.

"I feel I must ask, you know my curiosity was always one of my bests and worse traits," she nods, "Is she related to you?"

"Whom? Ashley is my daughter; I told you that," I had to see that one coming; I am talking with Helen Magnus. I roll my eyes before continuing

"You know quite well I'm not talking about Ashley. I am speaking about…" she closed her eyes

"Samantha."

"Yes, the likeness is …" she raised her hand to stop me. With the other one, she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"What I can tell you, Catherine, because we've known each other for a long time, is that we are in fact related. However, it is her decision to disclose the extent of our relationship; I hope you don't mind that." She apologized, I sigh.

"Oh, well. I believe I know you well enough to understand that you are protecting her from something." We exchange a smile, "but let me assure you something. Sam… She doesn't need protection, she is a strong, independent woman, with a good head on her shoulders and an incredible heart. She is just like you, I might add." And even if I see the moisture gathering in her eyes, she doesn't relent. And that's the Helen Magnus I've always known, the one who would respect others decisions no matter how costly they were for her.

SGSGGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG

 **Same time**

 **Briefing Room**

"I asked you to remain here because I wanted to know what happened. I know you were under their care and that somehow Janet got to you too… But there wasn't that much information coming on."

"Well, we found your Godzillas, and they attacked us. Apparently, they infected us with something, and we ended up being under their protection because they know how to fix it. They fixed us, and Teal'c and here we are now…" Jack summed it up.

"I don't understand if they had all you needed to heal you… why bother to call Janet?" Hammond mused out loud.

"That's easily explained, General, even if Teal'c wasn't injured. I was. And we all know my case isn't easy for Janet, and she has been treating me since Jolinar. We knew they called someone high up, to find who our CMO was, we never thought it would be President Hayes."

"Yes, apparently, that's what they did. Doctor Magnus called President Hayes, and when we talked, he had nothing but good things to say about her; he didn't mention anyone else." Hammond added, "Ok, what are your guts instinct telling you?"

"I don't like her. She has too many secrets," O'Neill said

"I have my doubts, they know too much about too many things. They knew Teal'c was Jaffa and apparently they knew about the gate. But, on the other hands, they were nothing more than welcoming to us, they treated us well and overall, they helped Teal'c. We must have in consideration they all have been cooperating so far," Daniel finished.

"Indeed, they have been very hospitable. Doctor Magnus seems wise beyond her years. However, I stand with O'Neill."

"I'm not sure why we are discussing this, General…. she is an abnormal, for crying out loud! She and the Tesla guy are abnormals; they are THE abnormals who killed a snake just because it was in their bodies! Look! I trust them as much as I trust in the Tok'ra. But if they can kill a snake how do we even know what they are capable of!" O'Neill finished with a frown.

"Abnormal or not, I like her, Sir. I found nothing but help during our stay, they willingly shared all they could about the technology they have available, and answered most of my questions," Sam said, "we are giving them more grief that we gave to the next alien… Just think for a second, if any one of them were bad people we probably wouldn't be having this conversation! And sir, you heard General Hammond, the President vouched for her."

"Oh my God, Carter! How you can say, they are people! You saw what they had in there! You don't know what kind of monsters they are underneath that crisp exterior they put up for the show!" Jack exclaimed, Sam clenched her jaw, she felt as if she was slapped in the face by the man she loved, "and let's face it, she probably looks like you on purpose, to make you feel comfortable around her."

"Holy Hannah! That's with what you are going for? Have you taken a moment or two to remind yourself how it was for me the lasts few times I've seen someone who looked just like me? Because I don't quite remember being all friendly and kind with the darn Replicarter!" She huffed

"Then what if she looks like you just to get into the SGC and destroy everything from the inside?" He pointed.

"Then she waited long enough!" She exclaimed, "The President knows her, Catherine knows her, sir. For what I had experienced last week, I'm willing to bet that, if she wanted to, she would be head of the SGC or it wouldn't be an SGC now." She stood up, "You know sir, you could try not to be so caught up and hate them because they are different. One day, Teal'c too was someone who we didn't know, someone we didn't understand."

"That's different!"

"Why? Because he helped us out there? Let me remind you, sir. She helped us here. We would be dead without anyone knowing what the hell was wrong with us if it wasn't for them." Sam was furious, and she knew she was walking the insubordination line there. She felt her face hot, and her hands were forcibly pressed against the table, her knuckles white. "Excuse me, sir," she turned towards Hammond, who nodded her.

She turned around and left the room. Jack started to walk towards the exit too; however, George knew Sam, and she was pissed with Jack stubbornness. And he knew better than send the Colonel head first into that situation when the risk of it ending with a court-martial for her was too high.

"Jack, just leave her," He said, O'Neill was about to argue, but he found himself under the steely glance of his CO. "It is an order, Coronel. Let her settle, understood?" Jack nodded, "For what I've heard, I take SG1 is divided; two of you don't like the Doctor and two who do like her."

"I like DoctorMagnus, General Hammond. I'm aware she has many secrets to which we didn't have access. I used not to trust people who hid things from others… Until I came to the SGC."

"What changed?"

"How can I judge someone who hid things from others from their own good? When I'm doing the same with the reality of the Stargate." Teal'c added, his eyebrow raised in a curious glance. "Perhaps it will be wise to keep her close; maybe her secrets as those we own, exist only to protect those who are under her care. "

"I agree with Teal'c; we should keep a close eye on her. She willingly helped, and I know no one who does that does it just for the heck of it. Everyone wants something in return. I just can't decide what's that she wants. She is abnormal, she's too smart for my liking, and she has too many connections. I don't trust people with that many connections."

"Me neither son, me neither."

SGSGGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSG

 **Sam's POV**

I know I blew it, I was way too close to insubordination or I was fully in it. But General Hammond didn't stop me, and Colonel O'Neill; Jack, he kept coming at me. I practically stormed out of the room too annoyed with his words… Too hurt by them.

I reach the infirmary before I know for sure why I'm here, I'm still fueled by the angriness and the pain I'm feeling. I want, I need… Someone who knows what I'm feeling, someone who can tell me everything will be okay. And she's not there. I see Ashley's frown, and Will's observing gaze.

"Is she here?" I ask, my voice still sounds angered. How could it not? He just told me they are monsters, and if he sees them like that. What will he think of me then?

"Sam, what happened?" Janet asks me, worry etched in her expressive eyes. But she wouldn't understand not even if she tried.

"Is she here? Doctor Magnus?" I manage to let out, and I feel my voice breaking, there's not that much between I follow.

"Yes, she is in my office talking ..."

I heard her whereabouts and storm over there, my walls slowly crumbling with each step. And once I open the door, I notice I must have interrupted something, and I clench my jaw tightly.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you, I'll come back later," I manage to say, but I turn around slowly, not wanting to go out and face all those eyes again.

"Come on in Samantha; you didn't interrupt much… Just, please do close the door," Helen says to me, and I nod. I stand awkwardly next to the door, and I look from one to the other. I know both can read my discomfort. So, I try to divert them, and myself from what I've just lived.

"Can I know the truth of how did you know each other?" I ask. They smile, Catherine raises an inquiring eyebrow towards Helen, who nods as an answer. The exchange makes me believe, Catherine knows much more than we did about Helen Magnus and the abnormals who roam the Earth

"We met a long time ago," Catherine starts, and I wonder if she knows about her unique skill… "when I was a child," my eyes widen, and I look at them for a moment. They both nod several times.

"So you know about … not being… that she doesn't…" I try to create a complete sentence, but my brain just can't provide me with the things I need, not when one of the persons I've known for years, sits there telling me she had known my biological mother for that long.

"That she isn't normal?" she asks for me, and I can help but nod. "What is normal anyway?" she says smiling. "I didn't know at first; I was a kid… then I didn't believe it…."

SGSSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSSGSSGSGSGSGSG

 **1928**

 **Catherine's POV**

It's been four days since our arrival. I think that I've never had this much sand in me before, not even at the beach. Until the day before yesterday, I joined my father as he worked in the field. But something changed in the afternoon. They found a rock, it was gigantic, and they found a ring under it. Since then, my father kept himself occupied with the ring, and I just go wandering around trying not to annoy or disturb the workers, since my father pointed it was not polite.

This morning I was walking around, contemplating the skies which I believe never were so blue before and daydreaming with Pharaohs, princesses, and jewels and all that sort of things. And I was so focused on the sky, that I ended up bumping into something and falling to the ground. That was when, I figured by the shadow it cast over me, that I had bumped someone.

Thankfully, it wasn't a worker that I disturbed out of his job. But if I were someone else, it probably would have been worse, since I bumped my father's boss. She didn't fall to the floor, but she was forced to take a step back to gain stability again, and I blushed when I noticed I almost managed to make her fall. And you are not supposed to bump into bosses, especially not when they were so kind to you. I tried to formulate some apologies, but I was mesmerized by the woman who had given me my first piece of Egypt just for myself. I was somewhat smitten with Doctor Helen Magnus.

She frowned a little when she managed to catch herself, and looked around to try and figure out what had just happened, but I was still unable to voice anything. Or to find a way up from the sandy floor. She gasped when she saw me.

"Catherine, dear; are you okay?" she kneeled quickly, and she's checking me for injuries. And I find myself looking straight into her bright blue eyes, just like today's sky. Suddenly I feel shy and overwhelmed, and I turn a bit red.

"Yes, sorry I disturbed you, Miss Magnus," I say as firm as I can, but my voice is nothing but a whisper. She finishes her check up and stands

"Do you like ancient history?" she asks me and starts to walk, and I guess that I must follow her lead.

"Yes, I like history and Egypt. When I grow up I want to be an archeologist, just like my father," apparently, that pleases her, her smile widens.

"Oh, that's true, you mentioned that before. I consider your father had an excellent idea when he decided to bring you with him. If you want to take my advice, let me confess, the best place to start learning about history or what an archaeologist does, is by being where the history happened."

We keep talking, or rather she keeps digging information out of me as we stroll back to the camp. I hadn't realized how far away, I was from camp. Until Mister Tesla comes searching for her

"Helen, dear. We've been searching for you for ages! I think I figured out the word I was missing."

"I went for a walk, I thought needed more space, and maybe I was lucky enough to get hit by inspiration, which apparently it isn't required any longer. Luckily, this young lady bumped into me and brought me back to camp safely," Nikola looks at her, and I notice right then and there, that when I grew up, I want someone who looks at me in the same way he does to Helen.

"Thank you, Catherine, dear. You have no idea how much I appreciate you have taken care of our Helen," he winks at me. Then, they both smile at me and wave goodbyes, and I see them walking faster towards the ring.

I was bored and left alone again. But I find a rock in which I can sit, and I'm back to sky gazing, and I can't help but play with the necklace she gave to me. And out of nowhere something brings my attention back to the floor. I see someone looking at me with an anxious face, he seems afraid to come closer, but I wave to him, and he runs towards me. He looks scared.

"You have to stay away from that… That woman," he whispers in a terrified voice. And considering that Helen is the only woman in the whole area, I guess he is talking about her. But she wasn't anything but polite with me.

"Why?" I ask with a frown

"She is a witch. She eats children's souls to stay forever young. You have been marked this afternoon, run away from her," and before I can ask anything, he disappears into the diggings once again. Strange man, I think.

I wait for the night, and as soon as my father enters our tents, I rush out of my divided corner, and I left out everything the guy told me. And all my worries rush out of my body with my dad's reaction to the news. He laughs as I never saw him before, and tells me to not believe in everything people said, or I will end up dead by some silly superstition.

SGSSGSGSGSGSGSGGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS

 **Present**

 **SGC Lab**

 **Janet's POV**

"Men... that look was so Magnus! Am I free to go now?" Henry said I like him he is cute. Too bad he's already taken.

"Where would you go anyways? Is not like there is much to do in here?" Tesla says, well he is annoying, and he knows it

"You mad? The dial-up program seems awesome! And if that's here… Who knows what other goodies they have in store," he comments eagerly.

"Chill out, my dear Heinrich. There's not much we can do even if we want, I'm pretty sure we need supervision, specifically hers," he adds pointing to where Sam just went in

"Quoting the Great Doctor Magnus: 'Bloody Hell'" he huffed, really between Sam's Holy Hannah and Magnus Bloody Hell I don't know which one is my favorite

"Do I need supervision for training? I could use a good fight with the trained military, you know? To test my skills," Ashley adds with a big grin on her face

"Do I need supervision just to wander around?" Doctor Zimmerman adds, and we all look at him. "What? I am a Psychiatrist, what I am supposed to do in here?" He's got a point, what is he doing here?

"Why are you here in the first place, protege? You didn't need to come…"

"You know that protege thing is ancient."

"Hold your horse's everybody!" I intervene, even though I curious to know more about that nickname, "You all need CT's to which you will be escorted one by one. As for you, Miss Magnus," she rolls her eyes

"Just call me Ashley? Or Ash"

"I still have to get your blood, Ashley. And yes, you all need a bodyguard of sorts to wander around, even if you don't know why you are here."

"Great, I'll guess we wait. You still need Helen's blood and," Will grimaces, "you probably want her taking Ashley's blood." Ashley nods profusely. And I raise an eyebrow.

"I'm perfectly capable of drawing blood; I've enough experience to do it."

SGGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS

 **Same time – Janet's Office**

 **SAM's POV**

"Since that day, I don't believe in superstitions. I thought back then the fear she instilled was related with being a woman in a man's job. I didn't know for sure what she was, until many years later." She shrugs, Helen just keeps quiet.

"How?" I ask.

"Well, when my father was in his last days, he told me that if I ever needed anything at all, I had to contact Helen Magnus. I laughed, by then around twelve years had passed since I met her, and I joked with him that the most likely thing was that Helen died before I needed help. He caressed my face and smiled at me, and then he added 'My dear, she probably will survive us all.' I blame it on the medications he was taking until I was in need of funding, and I called. When I saw her, and she looked exactly as I remembered, I understood he wasn't joking."

"And you weren't freaked out? I mean, it must be a shock to find that someone you met when you were just a child, hadn't changed at all…"

"Yes, of course, I was scared; everybody fears what they don't know. Aren't you scared when you go through the gate?" she asks, and I nod.

"Yes, every time. However, I am not afraid of them…" I sigh and let out my current fear, "I am afraid of how people would react to… Me..." Catherine's eyes widen, and she looks from me to Helen and then back at me

"What do you mean? Are you an abnormal too?" Catherine squints

"She didn't tell you?" I ask surprised, I mean, if I were her, I would have told her everything. Especially since they seem quite well acquainted. Helen looks at me with a soft smile and loving eyes, the same way she had looked at me since the beginning.

"I told you, I loved you all your life. I can't pretend for you to accept what I offer, or change what you have become just because I appeared. I am conscious that I can't come and destroy the life you created for yourself just by my desire to tell everybody what you are to me. It is your choice, I have no rights," she finishes, her voice is barely a whisper. And I don't know if it is in her words, the eyes, the tears she's holding back or if it I just reached my breaking point, but for the first time I don't feel like betraying my adoptive mom when I think of Helen as my mom. She bites her lower lip, "I already lost you once, I don't want to lose you again, even though I know I will."

"I have no idea of what you two are talking about, but I feel that I need to go out now and give you both some space," Catherine rose from her seat and started to walk to the door

"Catherine! Wait!" My mom and I hold our gazes for a moment, "I have to start somewhere," I shrug, "I trust you Catherine, and what's important she trusts you. It is a bonus that you know about the abnormals and feels no different. With that, I know I can tell you this and be sure it won't change your opinion of me," I wait for her to reach and sit before I continue. "I am not only an abnormal; I am the test tube child of two of them." She frowns.

"My parents made me during the 50's, I, well my egg, was frozen and I was born later on. According to Janet studies, my DNA it is unique, and it shouldn't exist at all, but here I am... 33 years old, apparently not aging and healing way too fast, oh! And my parents are two of the greatest minds of history."

"You mean… " She looks at Helen and then outside.

"Yes, I am the child of Nikola Tesla and Helen Magnus."

"Oh my god that explains many things I couldn't understand before."

"Whatever you mean Catherine?" Helen asks

"Well, taking apart the physical appearance, there is something in her that is special. Her way of thinking of everything, her fast learning, I don't know, just things I guess..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt this lovely gathering, but Helen we need you outside now," Tesla says storming inside

"Whatever happened?" She asks frowning.

"Ashley," he adds as if that's the most explicative thing to say, but judging by my mother's reaction, it is. She walks fast out and straight towards Ashley.

"Mom, please!" Ashley says, and from my position, I can see her eyes changing from her regular ones, to entirely black, and then to fully red. "Doctor Frasier needs the sample, we told her to…uhg, oof," Ashley finished, she is clearly struggling with something inside her body.

"Breath Ashley, talk to me." She whispers lovingly, she jumps into the bed and sits behind Ashley, surrounding her with her body. "Come on, Ash, you know you can control it, it is part of you, but it isn't who you are..." Helen continues whispering, one hand caressing her daughter. This is a side of Helen Magnus, that I've never got to see before, the motherly Helen. And apparently, her team doesn't see it often because they are all staring in awe. Helen's eyes lock on Will's, and he nods.

"What is she?" Janet asks, the fear in her voice is noticeable.

"If you fear her, you probably have to go now, fear only makes it worse," Will adds. Helen is still talking slowly to Ashley, oblivious to the rest of us. Or at least she seems to, but when Will walks close enough, she extends a hand, and he places the needle and vial in it. And without stopping her actions, she inserts the needle in Ashley's arm and takes the sample Janet couldn't take.

And I can't think anything more than: with this? How can anyone believe they are monsters? But I risk a glance to Janet, and her horrified look points me exactly the contrary. For her, they are monsters. Or maybe, it is just fear.

"I know, I know… don't worry," Helen's voice is clearer than before.

"I will need a big sparring later on," Ashley adds, and we all laugh.

"I'll see that with General Hammond," my mother adds, not a hint of a joke in her voice. And it hits me, Ashley wasn't joking, somehow she needs it.

"Thanks," she adds, closing her eyes for a while.

"You should take mine now, Doctor Frasier. And start with the CTs If we want to go back anytime soon," she winks at me. And I understand, she is trying to make Janet come closer to Ashley, to prove her there's nothing wrong with coming close. To show her they are no monsters, just a sick daughter, and a preoccupied mother.

I turn to Catherine and smile at her, before I whisper, "I'm thrilled I've found them."


	21. Chapter 21

Hey! I didn't forget about you, xD. Or this.

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter twenty-one**

When all the Sanctuary members passed through the CT scan, and none of them was pinned down as Goa'uld, their escorts walked them to the mess hall, where they had a quick lunch.

Will imagined what a day to day routine of lunch looked like for the members of SG-1 and he quickly decided it didn't include the whining of a half vampire nor the audience coming and going just to try and steal a glimpse of Helen. Or, how he managed to understand from reading their lips, 'British Sam'

Apparently, Colonel O'Neill had also caught the never-ending intrusion of people who came to observe the situation, which made him walk to the door and disappear for a while. Soon, only those eating remained and guards were placed on the other side of the doors to avoid the curious glances of the other members of SGC.

Will also noticed the worried looks coming from Helen towards Ashley, who looked a bit paler and was playing around with the food she had placed on her plate.

"Helen?" he whispered, and she smiled weakly.

"I might need to intervene…" she sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. "She's not looking… well"

"Intervene?"

"A sparring match may be a good outlet, or…." She trailed, and he understood. Blood, her blood to be more accurate, the other part of the treatment which wasn't so nice. He nodded once, she sighed.

Once he started to learn more things about Helen, he was amazed to know how many people depended on a version of her blood. Nikola depended on it for the first years; she was the only one who could produce enough to keep him sated and not die.

Until they found a way to create his "special dinner." He needed much more of the compound than he did if it was Helen's blood. She had used a similar treatment for John, a vial of her blood to keep his blood lust under control. And seeing the effects of using her blood, she had given both James and Nigel, a vial each.

Nigel stopped using it when he met his wife. James, he knew the effects weren't everlasting, and he had managed to measure the amount of time the unique qualities of her blood remained in his system. And then, Watson repeated the process using the machine which had kept him alive for so long. He never asked for more, and she knew he wouldn't accept it, even if she offered.

Through the years, she had used her ability to cure herself to produce plenty of vaccines to save other species, and those variations were all saved somewhere. And now, Nikola and Ashley were both under her treatment again. Will asked Nikola why he needed her, why he didn't keep his treatment, and his answer was simple

"I can smell her blood, just like Henry and Ashley can. It's a fight, and I need to keep myself in control. To make it simple, protégé; Helen is like cocaine, and I'm an addict."

The way Nikola had said it made Will understand he wasn't too happy with the situation. He knew the vampire had his schedule and he was attempting to reduce the intake. He also knew, that fighting Ashley regularly was taking its toll with all those reconstructions their bodies had to endure.

Someone cleared his throat, and Will noticed all the plates were empty or set aside. Soon, their escorts walked them back to the conference room. Hammond joined them as soon as the crowd took their seats.

"Dr. Fraiser?" Hammond asked while Jack eyed suspiciously at every member of the Sanctuary team.

"Well, I have the results that interest us the most. None of them has a Goa'uld attached. I'm still awaiting results from the lab. If we are still here, then blood work will be sent here when it gets done. My recommendation is to continue with this meeting under caution, sir."

"Very well then. Let's proceed," Hammond signaled the guards who often stood around, and when they were out of view, he nodded towards Helen.

"I guess our time to talk has started then," she said placing a small laptop over the table and connected it to the projector. "As most of you know, the Sanctuary purpose was, and still is, the protection of the abnormals of the world," the screen showed an empty desktop and a soon, it was filled with several images of their most fiercely protected secret.

"We chose to define abnormals as any and all of the species which differentiate even in the vaguest forms from the known human one, and all the subspecies which have missed their place in our natural science books. We have a library of thousands of different species unknown to botanists, zoologists, and humans alike."

"Why?" Hammond asked, his eyes widened as he observed image after image of creatures he never thought might be real.

"That's easy, everyone needs protection, and everyone needs to feel they have a home. We protect them, we give them a place to call home, and we learn from them. The different species which have come to our radars have provided cures and treatments for many of the human-made diseases that keep appearing as time moves forward. The origin of some of them are known, they mixed disease a with b to cure it but resulted in disease c. Others are the result of accidents, laboratories not prepared, or nuclear plants mistakes. Everything can lead to a small mutation, and no matter how small it is, we are prepared to receive them."

Catherine smiled, as she looked around. There was something that had always caught her when Sam talked, a way she had to mesmerize her audience with the most simple words. She remembered having seen that before, but she couldn't quite point the when. Until now.

All eyes were on Helen, and her voice caught the attention of all, including Jack. It was like a magical spell was placed or like she was telling a history to a bunch of kids who wanted to know how the Prince rescued the Princess, and not like she was showing them the life-altering the history of how the Sanctuary came to be.

"Why are we here? You might want to ask, and the answer is also easy. A long time ago, the Network got a lead on what could be the greatest repository of knowledge from an ancient and powerful abnormal who lived on the Earth; access to this knowledge changed what we know as history. We couldn't allow this data to be lost to the hands of Governments or worse, tomb raiders; and an expedition was sent to El Cairo. The Sanctuary placed a team of their best Archeologists, being Catherine's father the leader of the excavation. They traveled there in December of 1927 and after several months of nothing but empty hands, the Head of the Sanctuary network was called over."

SGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGSGS

 **1928**

Everything pointed it will be just another day in the desert; the sun was shining brightly trough the opening between the flaps of the tent. They were sipping their warm tea, and sweating with it, but it was breakfast, and he always told her that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Then, one flap opened.

 **"** Sir, we found a ring," one of the few Americans on the team told him, his frown was covered with a mix of sweat and sand.

"A ring? Let me see," the man shook his head.

"It's not… We can't move it. It does have strange writings all over; we thought we found nothing when the hit rock. Fred, he hit the rock angrily, and it gave out, it was under it."

His companion watched the exchange as is she was looking at a tennis match. She looked from one man to the other and back.

"Did you call her?" he added, scratching his face pensively. Doug nodded.

"We called her when we found the engravings on the rock, and we were talking with her when Fred hit the metal."

"Well done," he told Doug, patting his shoulder happily.

"Sir, they are already here."

"Very well, let's go then."

Robert Langford, stretched his hand to take his daughter's hand in his, and they walked to where is helper was pointing. He tried not to gasp when he saw how extensive was the discovery Doug was telling him about. Right next to it, standing in the middle of the circle were two persons already.

He smiled brightly, every time he saw her, he found himself amazed. It had been at least five years since the last time he had the honor, and yet, she still looked pretty much the same. In fact, if it weren't for the hair, she would've looked exactly like she did when he had first met her twenty years before.

"Papa, who are they?" his daughter, asked bringing him out of his reverie.

"Oh, darling. Come, and I'll introduce them to you," the little girl nodded.

The two strangers were talking rather fast, but she managed to catch a few free words 'ancient', 'portal,' 'vampires' and 'Goa'uld.' Back then, she didn't know that those words would change the world for some people included herself, many years later.

"Robert!" A polite voice, soft and sweet called her dad, "How lovely seeing you! I'm sorry, Douglas explained you were still asleep, due to the time he called I'm not surprised, I hope you don't find rude us finding out first."

"No, not at all, Helen. After all, everything that's done here wouldn't be discovered if it wasn't for you."

"Don't be modest, I can do many things, but I can't spend my days in the desert finding artifacts that can change history, no matter how much I would love to. We were quite astounded by the explanations Douglas gave to us that we couldn't wait to come. Thankfully, we were near enough, and it didn't take long," she finished with a dazzling smile.

The strawberry blond woman was beautiful for Catherine's eyes. Her hat was providing enough shades for Catherine to look at her and study her. She found two sparkling blue eyes and perfect white skin and some pink lips. The woman was dressed all in white.

"And who do we have here?" she said smiling at the girl. The man who was with her was also suited up with white clothes. Both looked completely out of place with all those other people wearing expedition clothes, and at the same time, seemed entirely at ease.

"Ah! Helen, dear; let me introduce you, my daughter, Catherine." Robert added blushing when he had to force his daughter to close her mouth pushing her jaw upwards with a finger. Helen smiled as the little girl followed her movements.

"I'm very pleased to meet you, Catherine," She told her, coming to her knees to look at the girl straight to her eyes. Catherine blushed.

"Are you an angel?" She asked in awe, Magnus laughed.

"No, sunshine. I'm not; some say I'm quite the contrary. Although, I've never listened to what people say about me," she winked, "What on Earth are you doing here?"

"I want to be a great archeologist when I'm older. I'm learning all that I can from my father," she said matter-of-factly, Helen placed a strand of hair behind the girl's ear.

"That's great, dear. We need more women doing important work like this," she winked. She came on her feet again, not even bothering to pat away the sand that had gotten stuck at her knees. She looked around until she found what she was looking for, and quickly went to a table which contained most of the artifacts they had found so far. She moved them around as if she was looking for something and then grabbed a piece and walked back towards the group. "Well, Catherine, this is a present for you, so you can always look at it and know things can become truth."

"Helen… We can't accept it," Robert whispered, but she merely eyed him and bit her lower lip with squinting. The girl looked happy when she gave it to her, but Robert looked consternated.

"Robert, maybe you can't, and you wouldn't accept it. However, the present isn't for you. I believe nothing is pointing out that little Catherine here can't take it," she smiled.

"You better accept it, Robert, you know how she is," the man they hadn't introduced to her intervened, and Robert nodded, Catherine's eyes went wide, whatever present she was getting, her father was forced to approve, and her father rarely was forced into anything. Helen's attention turned back to the kid, she kneeled again and extended the object towards Catherine.

"What is it?" she questioned, extending her two hands to take it.

"Oh, it is just a necklace, every girl should own at least one," she winked at her. Catherine felt concerned, on one side she wanted to keep the necklace. On the other, she didn't want to be the cause of people forcing her father to do what he didn't want. She chewed her lower lip.

"Can I keep it papa?" She asked. Robert looked at Helen.

"Are you sure, Helen?"

"We won't miss a necklace, Robert… and it will look lovely on her," She shrugged.

"Then yes, Catherine, you can keep it," the girl jumped to embrace her father's leg and then she threw herself at Magnus, making her laugh wholeheartedly. The man who was with her was smiling too, so Catherine thought she did something right.

"May I?" Helen asked grabbing the necklace, and Catherine blushed and nodded yes. Soon, it was on her the massive symbol falling almost at her navel level. She giggled happily.

"What is this drawing, Miss Helen?" She asked, caressing the contours of the trinket softly.

"Oh, that is the eye of Ra." She smiled, "It was considered amongst other things an excellent protection symbol. I'm pretty sure your father has books about Ra with him…"

 **Present**

Catherine smiled at the memory of that day flowed through her mind and played with her necklace. Magnus who was scanning the room reading the expressions that her presentation caused, smiled to her when she saw with what she was playing with.

"Wait! That's not right; it can't be true." Daniel commented with a frown.

"Why not?" Catherine asked crooking her head.

"If the Stargate was the property of a private facility, how could you have sold it to the Air Force, Catherine?" He asked.

"And yet, I sold it to the Air Force," Catherine answered.

"Then how come she claims it was Sanctuary property?"

"Well, it was Sanctuary property." Catherine admitted, "For a couple of weeks, they moved it to England, and then, a month or so later, my father got a letter telling him the ring was on its way to America, and it was his to use it carefully. I remember, I found that note later, it also mentioned that they couldn't keep it safe and the artifact could endanger our safety if it were to fall into their enemies' hands."

"Thankfully we did, that could have changed the outcome of WWII," Nikola commented. "Can you imagine?" He added looking at Helen, who shivered at the thought.

"I don't understand," Daniel continued his line of questioning, "why would you give something so _big_ to someone?"

"Well," Helen sighed, "our commitment to protect the unknown, comes from the need of others to use them. There are plenty of abnormals which you wouldn't want in the hands of the unscrupulous. And with keeping them far away from their hands, the Sanctuary started had managed to gain the enemies around the globe." Helen pointed.

"Okay, got it, you got enemies…" Jack rolled his eyes.

"Still not convincing, I mean, you got this massive ring which does nothing, why would you give it away to protect humanity?" Nikola and Helen chuckled.

"Because we knew what it did."

"What? It wasn't way up until 97 when we figured it out, and you are meant to tell me you knew all this time about the Stargate?"

"Yes," she answered firmly.

"I don't believe it."

"As Nikola has already proved to you, Doctor Jackson, their language is not unknown to us. Not now, not back then. However, it was determined by the Network that if people weren't ready to know and accept the many different species the Earth holds, they were least prepared to know the secrets of the Universe. Therefore, to keep it safe, we sent the ring to America; we kept the other part with us. Catherine father worked with the Sanctuary long enough to be deemed as trustworthy, and he accepted the enormous responsibility of keeping it safe."

"You should show him the diaries…" Nikola suggested. Helen nodded and typed something in her notebook. A picture of a handwritten page appeared on the screen along with a search box, she typed 'gate, ' and the document jumped.

 _"According to the writings the circle is a gateway to the stars," t_ hen, she typed deleted her search and added, Goa'uld, and the document jumped again. "T _he writings also mention a race called Goa'uld, they take the human body as a host suppressing all the humanity of the person, so the host doesn't exist anymore,"_ Helen quickly read her writings out loud.

 _"_ That's not entirely true," Sam said, Daniel was observing carefully the writing, which looked oddly familiar to him.

"Yes, that's true Major Carter, we learned later about the existence of a rebel group. They called themselves, the tok'Ra. According to a newer expedition diary, the origins of said group are here, specifically in Cairo, when there was a rebellion against Ra. A few years back, we also managed to tie what happened in that revolution with the creation of Praxis as a refugee city." She smiled.

"Praxis?"

"Another long story, back to the Tok'Ra… Apparently, during the time of the rebellion, one of the 'Goddesses' escaped Earth and went to another planet, where she grew her children. Her offspring was born with the knowledge of what they were and started to plan how to defeat the other pseudo-gods."

"You mean to tell us you found out about all of this here? On Earth? " Jack asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"I don't believe a word of what you are saying," Jack affirmed stubbornly.

"And yet, I know that in fact, she is telling the truth," Jacob Carter interrupted the conversation, joining them from the stairs.

 _"_ Dad? What are you doing here? When did you arrive?" Sam asked.

"How do you know that?" Jack inquired at the same time, Jacob bowed his head saluting all.

"Hey kiddo, I was here all week, you were on an 'undefined location.' God knows I called Hayes several times for him to relent, but he didn't. I must say he has the utmost respect for you and your work, Doctor Magnus. I came to return to the Tok'ra as it was scheduled. Anyhow, at the infirmary, they informed me you were seen with Doctor Frasier earlier and that SG-1 and a team which included a British Sam, was in a close meeting here. And here I am, I was waiting for you to stop talking to come up, so was seating at the stairs and then I heard it… And I had to intervene, I mean, who's a better fit to tell that history, right? And I got here, and I must confess Selmak is pretty shocked by seeing her." he pointed to Helen, "but before you react, Jack, I'll let you speak with her, and we all can get more answers."

Jack closed his mouths as Jacob lowered his head and closed his eyes, and then, he slowly raised his head again, frowning. He crooked his head and walked closer, towards Helen until he was face to face with her. She raised her eyebrow, and Selmak huffed, grabbing her face and moving it from one side to the other.

"How can you be?" Selmak asked Helen.

"I'm sorry, I don't know who you are, I don't know your host. Therefore, my guess is I don't know you either," Magnus said, curiously looking to Jacob/Selmak.

"And yet, you are the same Helen Magnus, aren't you?" He inquired.

"Yes. I'm Helen Magnus." It was her turn to frown. "I only met one of you before, and one of the other ones," she affirmed, Selmak grinned.

"I'm not from the other ones."

"Then I will politely ask you not to jump into me if you want to live. You wouldn't survive me," Helen grinned. Selmak sniffed around her, making all of the crowd look at the exchange weirdly.

"You smell like … them. The sweet scent of the protectors, I can't jump on you. I won't jump into you," Helen smiled intrigued, she had the same conversation before. Years ago, and yet if the conference room was changed to the warm sand and blazing sun of the desert, she could almost be there again, she could transport herself to Cairo, 1965.

"You are not hurt, are you? Can I help you?" she offered.

"I am Selmak, from the Tok'ra." Helen's eyes went wide; no one else was understanding what was happening.

"Dear God! How can you be?" She asked surprised.

"Ah, you aren't a human, you are one of the Protectors as we agreed when we met."

"I'm not one of the Protectors; I'm a species on my own." Selmak nodded, "I didn't have a reason to lie to you. I never knew if you made it… And after all these years, I"

"You tough our paths would never cross again… don't worry; I did too." Jack and Daniel cleared their throats to interrupt the conversation the two of them were having, Nikola was grinning like a kid in a candy store.

"Sorry to interrupt you, but care to explain what is happening here?"

"You are that creature?" Nikola grinned, "Amazing!"

"You reek of Protector."

"Half-breed," Nikola pointed proudly.

"I see."

"We don't!" Jack provided, "Care to explain to the audience?"

"I've met Selmak… Some years ago," Helen explained.

"It was a lucky encounter, I can't imagine the outcome if the encounter hadn't occurred," Selmak dismissed, "I was sent to a Tok'ra mission, I was returning to our base planet on a Tel'tak."

 **1965**

Saroosh was smiling it was her last mission for the Tok'ra; she was retiring since her body even with all the help of Selmak, was ready to start aging over her real age. She had lived around 170 cycles, and she was willing to get old. As she put her tel'tak on hyperspace, she wondered how she would look like an old woman, instead of the young features that had accompanied for over a century.

"It's not the way you look, Saroosh. It's the way you lived," Selmak told her, and she smiled.

"Then I'm ready to live as an intelligence officer and not like a infiltrated agent," She frowned, "There's something odd with the engine."

"We better get out of hyperspace and check, you want to get in one piece for your retirement dinner," Selmak joked. But they came out of hyperspace slowly, and then both gasped.

"That can't be," Saroosh commented.

"Yet, it is," Selmak provided, both concentrating on trying to avoid the wormhole that opened in front of them. But, there was nothing they could do. Their course, no matter how much they tried, was not going to allow them to avoid it. And soon they were in.

The Tel'tak vibrated in ways none of them ever felt before and soon; it started to fail. Thankfully, they were spat out of the wormhole seconds later. They were rotating like a ball in space, and they both were thankful no other rocks were floating in space. She walked towards the main seat and noticed the primary systems were out. The navigation systems were on, but they couldn't point where she was.

"What should we do?" She asked out loud, even if Selmak could hear her thoughts. And then, the tel'tak completed one turn, and they saw a blue orb. Saroosh quickly studied it and grinned when the results showed it was an environment they could survive in. She also found large cities and a lot of living creatures.

"Oh! Selmak… The only planets I know with this many people are Goa'uld strongholds and how are we going to explain ourselves?" Saroosh complained loudly, while Selmak took control of her body and started to analyze the globe.

"There, we can land there… it's not like we have much of choice, Saroosh, but at least we will be able to live to explain it."

Alarms started to sound as they marked their course, Saroosh inhaled deeply and grabbed herself as firmly as she could, and soon she was both fighting to keep herself safe and to breath. She saw how sand covered the central glass and slid towards the door, using her last breaths. Raising her hand, she pressed the combination just in time to feel the wind blowing sand against her face before blacking out.

 **Present time**

"My last conscious breath was used to open the door of the Tel'tak, and my last memory of that experience was a warm sandy wind before I collapsed," Selmak added.

"Some years ago," Helen started, "I was called on a mission to help a giant sand ray that surfaced, those are rare, and there were years since the last one had surfaced on a cry for help."

"A giant sand ray? She's got to be kidding," O'Neill added, Magnus smiled and showed pictures of the creature which had surfaced during the Kali incident. She raised an eyebrow waiting for more questions over her sanity.

"As I was saying, we were packing our things since the sun was starting to go down. Darkness in the desert can be quite magical or terrifying. And then, I saw something strange coming down in the sky and the sound of it crashing…"

 **Cairo**

 **1965**

Once healed, the sand Ray had buried herself again slowly but surely. Helen looked up enjoying the way the day was giving space to the night, the sun was still halfway up, but the temperature was beginning to drop, and the breeze they missed during the whole event was starting to raise.

And then, something odd was in the sky. Helen had heard histories on the thousands of tribes she had lived with, and this thing was something straight out of their shared library of memories. It looked like a golden shell and flew low enough for her to catch it. The screams from her crew were odd.

They were used to confront things unimaginable like sand rays and pterodactyls and such, but a metal flying thing scared them to the point of making them run. She moved to the opposite direction. A collision course was obviously a call for help.

She arrived at the crash site shortly and took her gun out of her holster as what it seemed like the door hissed open. She waited for a while, to see if someone, anyone came out. Or anything but nothing did. She walked closer, her pace falling with the memories she had of the thousands of complicated situations she had managed to put herself into. With a deep breath, she pointed her gun inside and turned around to enter the ship.

It was empty or looked like it until Helen spotted the body lying awkwardly close to the door. She looked up and saw some device, and she figured it was the lock. So the woman on the floor was trying to get out. She approached, the woman wasn't breathing. Helen doubted a little, and then she did what she knew she should, and hoping the woman was a carbon-based lifeform, she started to give her air.

The woman's chest began to rise and collapse, but she remained unconscious, it made sense. It could take a while to her body to get used to being fully alive.

"I just saved your friend, do not shoot if you see me," she said out loud, hoping that if there were someone else, at least would give her time to stay away from harm. But there was no one else. She checked all the places she could gain access to, and then she walked back to camp.

She wasn't pleased nor surprised that no one was there any longer no one except a kid who had joined them for the fun of the desert, and her jeep. The child told her quickly that the crew feared the bug that fell from the sky and left him and her stuff behind. He had packed all her things, and there was nothing for him to do but wait for her to return. They hoped the jeep and drove closer to the ship; the girl was still out.

"Well, I can move her and risk damage. Or I can leave her here and risk her life." She muttered to herself. Before finding a way to move the woman least dangerously. Then, once she had secured the woman on the car, they started the way back to Cairo.

"Magnus! I didn't understand what happened, they returned all scared and mumbling things about a bug?" The head of the house started talking; then he saw the woman. "Who's this?"

"I'm not sure, help me bring her to the infirmary," she added. Asher gave orders to his crew, and soon the girl was transported to bed.

"What are you going to do with her?"

"I can't do anything, Asher. I'm not sure what she is, anything I attempt can be more damaging. Go sleep, Asher, I'm going to stay, if she doesn't wake up by morning, then I'll sleep, and you can wake me up when she does."

Helen entertained herself with a book, and taking vitals she didn't know for sure would work. But it kept her occupied, and when she thought she would have to wait until the next morning to find out more about the woman, her eyes fluttered open, and she spoke. Helen frowned, the language was one she knew but hadn't heard spoken in a long time.

"I'm Helen Magnus," she hoped she had said, and the girl frowned.

"Who's your God?" she asked. Helen frowned.

"We are free to choose."

"Nonsense, there aren't many who are free to choose. If you were, then you shouldn't know this language?" The woman sniffed the air, "Unless…"

"I learned from another being."

"You reek of Protector, and the other ones."

"Protector? The other ones?"

"You are familiar with Goa'uld; you must be, you smell like Naquadah… faintly."

"Ah, Goa'uld" Helen added understanding about what she was talking. "I've met one of those before, he jumped at me, and he didn't survive." She sighed.

"Died in you?" She asked.

"Yes, it was a long time ago. The material he left behind, is being slowly eliminated from my body. How can you know?"

"I told you, you reek of protector and Goa'uld."

"You smell them?"

"Yes, metal and sweet blood. I always heard of the sweet blood of the protectors. I've never smelled something like you before, Selmak did."

"Oh, Selmak is your symbiote? Are you a Goa'uld too?"

"No! I'm not from the other ones… I'm Tok'ra…"

"I read about Tok'ra. I will advise and ask you politely not to jump on me if you want to live. You wouldn't survive me."

"Yes, you smell like them. The protectors, I can't jump into you, I won't jump into you," Helen smiled intrigued.

"You are not hurt, are you? Can I help you?" she offered.

"I am Saroosh from the Tok'ra; I'm host to Selmak." Helen's eyes went wide.

"What's a protector?" Saroosh bowed, and Helen frowned.

"A long time ago," Selmak continued, "there were several races, the Goa'uld were created by one of them. But there was one, the Protectors were called, who were special; the symbiotes couldn't survive in them. And with their help, our mother understood we weren't Gods. We were simply controllers, if our mother is the mother of the Tok'ra, the protectors are the fathers."

"I've never heard about the Protectors."

"They had another name; I can't remember it. But if my species dies inside you, then you are one of them." Helen frowned: one of them. Her mind quickly provided her with historical facts, the ones only Nikola and her, and a few hand-picked historians knew, and her eyes widened.

"Akhkharu?" She offered, and the girl's eyes widened in response.

"Yes… That's it. We might be able to destroy the Goa'uld. Are there many of your kind?"

"Sadly… I'm not even one of them. I'm not even a half-breed. There's one man, he still conserves all of the qualities, but he's not completely one, and I don't know where he is."

"I can believe, I found the protectors just to learn they are gone."

"I'm sorry… I forgot to ask, are you hurt? Do you need anything?"

"No, Selmak will heal me. I will need tools to fix my ship."

"I will provide you with everything you need."

"Is there a chapa'ai?"

"Chapa'ai?"

"A ring? A gate to the stars? The circle of the universe?" Saroosh attempted in the various names she had heard over the years.

"That was the word!" Helen facepalmed herself, "There was a chapa'ai found, and it was buried. Now it's hidden and won't be used."

"How can you be sure?"

"The ring is in one part of the world; the control is in another part. Those two pieces were separated for our safety."

"Good."

"You should rest, I'll find you later, and you can tell me what you need."

 **Present time**

"I was under her care for about a week or two." Selmak added, "I explained her the basics of how the universe was going. And somehow we found all the things I needed to fix the tel'tak. And then, I was gone. I never thought about it; I never saved the data about this world. Since it wouldn't provide anything good for us, and having it could cause more damage to her world."

"You never thought you were talking about Earth?"

"I never was on Earth; I never knew the places Jacob knows. I only knew the desert and her Sanctuary; which was nothing like what I've seen here. How could I think her world was the Tau'ri?"

"Was there any other planet with Protectors?"

"There's a galaxy full of a variance of them."

"A galaxy?" Nikola's eyes brightened.

"The Wraith!" Sam added. "That's why there aren't Goa'uld's in Pegasus."

"I wouldn't know. I only know they were taken to another place, and they were never heard of. Also, I know the ones they took were variations of the Protectors, similar but nothing like them. The protectors… well, they cared."

"But how come you never remembered about her, if you saw Sam? Even Saroosh saw her."

"Before I blended with Jacob, Samantha, you made me remember that day, that world. I remembered her when I saw you, and I smelled you. And then, I blended with your father. I had to put all my energy on heal both of us, and soon, I knew too much about you. I knew your smell from his memories… And I never thought… I thought I forgot about her, about how she looked and smelled, because of Jacob's strong memories of you."

"And you are sure Helen was the one who helped you?" Will asked, Magnus had shared lots of things with him but knowing aliens wasn't one of those.

"Well, she just shared half of the history with you. So, my guess is yes. Helen, I know I already own you my life, but when I return to Earth, will you allow me to take you blood with me?"

"Why?" Jack asked.

"I think it would be most helpful to the Tok'ra, considering what her blood did as part of the cure for my problem," Teal'c said.

"Of course, you can have a sample of mine, and I'm pretty sure Nikola won't mind you to take a sample of his."

"George," It was Jacob's voice, "do you mind if Selmak and I hold a little chat with the Doctor in your office for awhile? It won't take long."

"Of course," Hammond agreed, and they walked towards the office. The door closed and Hammond sighed, "Well, this certainly changes things."


	22. Chapter 22

Hello, sorry it took so long! My mind needed a pause. Here it is?

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter 22**

"This way," Selmak's voice took over again, leading the Doctor towards the end of the room and inside the office.

 **"** Thank you, Selmak," were the first words out of Helen's mouth once they reached the General's office.

"What for?" Jacob's face frowned. Helen smiled.

"Not revealing my secret, I'm not in a place in which I want them to know about it." She sighed, "Can your host hear me?"

"I can," Jacob said with a bow, "We both can hear you all the time." He clarified for her.

"Therefore, you know," she affirmed.

"I know that for the look on her former host, your encounter was a long time ago, and for the same reason, I can notice you haven't changed. How is that possible?"

"I believe Selmak is in a position to explain the reasons to you, or at least tell you what I said to her. I trust you can hold that information for yourself until the right time? So far, the only person on the Stargate command who knows about my age is Samantha."

"As in Major Samantha Carter?" She nodded, "Like in my daughter Sam?"

"Yes." She grinned, it was a sad one he noticed. "I have to thank you for that too."

"What for now?"

"Did the Tok'ra ever study SG-1 blood?" Jacob denied with the head "Good. Before you ask, we should call her in here too, and probably William, that way I won't have to explain this twice," Jacob went out for a second then he came back in followed by Sam and a confused Will. Once the four of them were at the office with the doors closed, Magnus said: "Samantha, for what I understand, this is your Dad?" Sam nodded yes, "Then, I must thank you for raising her; you did a great job raising someone as special as her. I bet she was a handful and an inquisitive girl."

"How would you know?" Jacob frowned, the similarity between them telling him things he didn't want to acknowledge. Helen looked at Sam, who nodded at her.

"Well, Dad…" Sam started, "I'm Helen's biological daughter."

"I was afraid you would say that…" he sighed, "are you sure she is not your distant cousin or something?" he asked jokingly.

"She could be, but… you see that man over there?" she pointed towards the outside through the plexiglass dividing Hammond's office from the other room.

"The scrawny looking one?"

"Yes, that's Nikola Tesla."

"Funny, his name is like …" Sam shook her head stopping him.

"No, dad… he is 'THE' Nikola Tesla," Jacob looked at him then at the other two people inside the office, who nodded in agreement. "And he is my biological father."

Jacob sighed and walked to the General's chair where he plopped himself heavily down and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sam rushed towards him worried.

"Dad?" she asked kneeling beside him, he caressed her cheek and smiled.

"I'm okay, it makes sense, Sammie. You deserved someone that smart and not a hard-assed military man as me."

"No, Dad." Sam started, not knowing what to say, how to explain. Helen cleared her throat bringing back the attention to herself.

"Reality is, she was far better with you than she was with me or Nikola. You raised her good; she wouldn't be who she is if she was with any of us. It pains me to admit it, but that's the truth. And you, Jacob Carter, did tremendous work on helping her made herself who she is." He nodded in thank you, "And for that I will be always in your debt and so will Nikola." Silence took over with the weight of her words. Then Jacob frowned.

"Okay, but even if what you just told me, explains to me where did your brains and beauty come for it doesn't explain how you ended up with me… What about that other man?"

"The other man?" Will ask.

"Yes, you'll see that's how I got her, a man brought her to me." Helen inhaled deeply.

"Let me guess, tall, bold, strange, oddly white and British?" Will asked and Jacob nodded, "and had a scar around here and crazy eyes?" Helen glared at Will, and he raised his hands in surrender.

"Well, that was John Druitt. He was my... ex-fiancée," she rolled her eyes at herself, at her past. "He wanted revenge and as he thought Samantha was his daughter he stole her to make me paid." She finished, "I searched for her everywhere, but I couldn't find her until we found each other by chance."

"Why would he want revenge? I mean, ending an engagement is hardly a reason to steal a baby. "

"Oh, he took the breakup quite well, the part where I tried to kill him, it's the part he didn't quite like." She grimaced, "As you might guess, it is a long and complicated story. And I won't mind telling it to you in any other opportunity, hopefully sharing a decent wine. I wanted to know you and that you are host to Selmak was a big surprise."

"It was a big surprise for her too. Although, she assures me that now many things make sense. "

"That's good to know," she bit her lower lip, "I … whatever the outcome of our visit to the SGC is, Samantha already knows how to find me, us. I will love for you to visit me when you return. And I can provide you with the sample you asked."

"That will be lovely, thank you."

"No, Jacob, thank you. We couldn't hope for a better family than yours."

 **Conference Room**

"Well, that certainly changes things," Hammond said

"Why? What difference does it make that she knows the host?" Henry asked, "She knows many people."

"It's simple, Heinrich. If she knows one of their allies, they can't be sure who else she knows. And that makes her dangerous. Or at least, more dangerous than they thought she was," Nikola theorized. Ashley snorted.

"They have no idea how dangerous she is," she laughed. And clenched her jaw tightly, so hard that Nikola raised his eyebrow. "I don't get you; she's here by her own means and desires, she's willingly putting herself in harm's way, risking the safety measures she took not so long ago, trusting you with her life and ours, and all the work of the Network. And yet, you are still hesitating on trusting her."

"Well, she's right." Carter added, "we are more afraid of her than we were of the Tok'ra the first time we met them."

"Yes, but we knew the Tok'ra were aliens, and they hated the same guy we hated."

"And you don't know who we hate. Therefore, you can't relate to us as simply," Will affirmed.

The door of the office opened then, Jacob came out and cleared his throat.

"Sammie, can you join us for a moment?" he asked, then he looked around. "I don't know which one of you is William, but please come on in too"

Will exchanged a glance with Nikola, they both were looking closely not only at Ashley but at the rest of the table. Nikola nodded almost imperceptibly, but he didn't need to make it visible, not for Will to notice it at least.

Nikola wanted to growl at the fact that once again was William called instead of him, but he knew that would be the situation when he pushed Helen to go for Will. Also, he understood Helen well enough to be aware she wanted to thank the man who had raised their daughter. And at the same time, she anted out there someone who could control her other daughter in case she couldn't control herself. It wasn't the best-case scenario to show your 'deepest, darkest secret' but going full vamp in front of easily scared people wasn't something he hadn't done before. He also noticed the carefully intrigued way the petite Doctor was looking at Ashley.

By then the door opened again, and the group came out. Helen's eyes fell quickly on Nikola's who nodded as if to tell her everything was okay. Then her eyes found Ashley, who was whiter than before, and she was sure her daughter was starting to sweat, they locked eyes.

"George, if you don't mind I would like to return to the Tok'ra now. I will come back to search for a blood sample of Dr. Magnus. I was coming to ask your permission to return before I got distracted by this situation," Hammond nodded.

"Go ahead Jacob, just ask Walter to dial out for you." Jacob nodded and with one last hug to his daughter walked downstairs.

"Mom," Ashley's voice trembled enough to get the attention of all the involved in her treatment, "I won't be able to hold it much longer."

"Are you sure?" Henry asked turning towards her. Helen saw the way Ash was clenching Henry's tight.

"Yes," she hissed, and as if on cue Ashley's eyes changed colors, "see, I am losing it already," she added whining.

"General Hammond!" Helen' turned around to face the man. "We need to stop this meeting now. Ashley needs to use your gym a.s.a.p."

"You're kidding, right? You want to stop a highly-classified meeting so she can go play at the gym?" Jack snorted.

"No, Colonel. I want to stop a highly-classified meeting because I don't want people hurt. And I will appreciate if we can have this conversation while moving to the gym?" Magnus said somewhat frustrated. Sam looked at Ashley and saw her pleading eyes, also saw the same things she witnessed when Ashley disappeared in front of her the first time.

"General, I can take them," she asked feeling the worry raising inside the room.

"Please, if she doesn't waste some energy we will have trouble," Will added

"Oh! And they are not kidding," Tesla added. As if to make things even more evident, Ashley growled. And the SGC members did a double-take because it wasn't like anything they heard before, and a lot like one of those growls one would listen on an exorcism-related movie.

"Go, quick!" Hammond added once he noticed they weren't joking. Sam ran in front of the group guiding them to the gym. The whole team was running half of them not knowing why.

"If there are stairs, that will help," Helen commented. As they stopped near the elevators, Ashley jumped in place to keep herself active. But then the doors of both elevators opened. Helen, Nikola, and Ashley jumped in one followed by Sam, who pushed the 21 button and closed the door quickly. Leaving Henry and Will with Jack, Daniel.

The doors opened, and they started running again, they got there, and Ashley whimpered running straight for a punching bag, controlling the force not to break it as she had done with many bags back home. Helen stopped looking around, just then Henry stopped behind her.

"Henry! Can you fight her?" Magnus asked hopefully, turning around to face him. He grimaced.

"I'm still recovering after the last, and for the last one I was in full …" he trailed looking around

"Oh! That's right! What about you Nikola?"

"In order to heal I will have to…" he also trailed.

"Bloody Hell!" she whispered covering her face with her hands, noticing that the only one who could fight Ashley and not giveaway much was herself. Will looked at her and saw she wasn't in something in which would be comfortable fighting.

Helen was in a suit and high heels, in a typically Helen fashion. While Ashley was wearing jeans, t-shirt and sneakers, as she often did. Added to the difference of abnormalities, the clothing wasn't going to help Helen in the least.

"Ash? Will you be able to control the damage that you will do to your opponent?" Will asked once he finished scouting their clothing and the area.

"Yes, but not for too long and not with them." She added, pointed towards Nikola and Helen. "You know, the subconscious crap."

"Can someone spar with her? I need to get changed to do it myself," Helen said loud.

"I can fight against her, is she trained?" said one Airman, who was entering the gym.

"Yes, she is. Thank you for doing it," Helen added.

"No problem," he looked at the Helen and then did a double-take. "Ma'am?" he asked confused.

"No, I'm not you Major. Ashley just not hurt the man. Henry, can you get me my bag? The middle sized one." Henry nodded

"He will need someone to go with him for clearance," Sam said looking, Daniel offered to guide him.

Meanwhile, the airman looked at Ashley who was moving to stand in the middle of the sparring area, he was at least 20 centimeters taller, and his body was the double of hers. The airman smiled thinking 'as she would hurt me.' Then they exchanged a salute and Ashley moved to attack him, the airman rapidly moved back, and with a single movement Ashley got him on the floor, and she was on top of him and straddling him. She moved back to standing position and helped the guy up again.

This time he was the first to attack, she moved left and avoided the punch. He tried to hit her with the right, and she moved again, this time she grabbed his hand, and with a single swift she turned him and held him in a position that if he moved his arm would be broken. Ashley breathed in and out several times not to make that next step, and once she got herself in control, she let the guy go.

"Mom, this is not working," she complained as in the next move she managed to bring the man to the floor in less than two movements.

"If you start will you be able to stop it for a while?" Helen asked she was chewing her lower lip a clear signal that she was nervous. She didn't want to enter with more disadvantages that she already had.

"I don't think so."

After some time, of ending on the floor repeatedly, the poor airman couldn't keep the pace anymore (or felt embarrassed enough for being beaten by a girl). Teal'c noted it, as he noticed the distress on the older Magnus. He knew he was a stronger and more prepared than the airman. Therefore, he replaced the young man with a bow. He had also noticed the young girl was restraining herself not to harm the officer.

"You don't need to restrain yourself with me," she smiled 'like hell I don't' she thought.

She nodded and after a quick salutation, because 'you should always be polite to your rival,' she attacked. Teal'c was good, he avoided her first attack and the second one, and she grinned feeling he was going to help her hold on until her mom was ready. But she was good too, Teal'c noticed quickly.

"Take all the people with no clearance out of here," Helen asked Hammond who had joined them later. He nodded and gave the order.

When Teal'c was about to punch Ashley, she moved fast enough for him to hit the air. She took that opportunity to kick him straight in the face. The force of her kick made him go two steps back. And she was already back to attack. She pushed him with a considerable amount of strength and stuck her feet between Teal'c legs making him fall harshly on the floor.

SG1, Hammond, and Janet watched in awe and wouldn't believe it if they didn't see it. It was incredible how the small kid was able to take Teal'c as many times; nor could they believe Teal'c didn't have a chance even to touch her on most occasions.

"Mom," Ashley pleaded, and that gave Teal'c enough distraction to punch Ashley in the stomach, he hoped that with that punch she would be easy to take down and at the same time he hoped he hadn't hurt her. But, oh how badly he was mistaken, Ashley doubled herself for a second, but she held Teal'c arm to gain stability, and then she kicked Teal'c in the groin making him fall to the floor in pain.

"Oh! My God! I'm so sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to hit you there," when she finished saying this her eyes went red as she kneeled close to Teal'c and the smell of his blood entered her nostrils.

Everything that was done until that point was for nothing, Helen noticed. Because Ashley knew no matter how hard they fought, they were containing themselves not to hurt her. The way she licked her lips told her there was no time left. She had to act before Ashley lost it. She ran towards Ashley, throwing her jacket and vest to Will on the way to the mat. She kicked Ashley's face with such force that she flew to the floor. There were some collective gasps of those who didn't know better, and then, Ashley laughed stood with a jump sending a punch towards Helen as soon as she was on her feet. Helen barely avoided it.

After a few movements later, Ashley grabbed Magnus from her neck. The crowd gasped, Helen was a few centimeters out of the floor, and Ashley extended arm was the only thing holding her in place. The girl moved her head sideways and with a faint smile, she put more pressure on her mother's throat. Helen did put any resistance to it; she didn't seem ill at ease. Then, she did something that surprised everyone; she blew one mighty blow to Ashley's elbow. The cracking sound made clear that she just broke her daughter's elbow and as a result, the hand that was choking her lost its grip and Helen fell to the floor and jumped back. Henry chose that moment to get with Magnus back.

"Can you stop so that I can get changed?" Helen asked. Hopefully, her suit was still almost intact. Ashley growled and attacked Magnus again. "I guess that's a no," she added between when her daughter attacked her without stopping to answer. Then, when Helen was trying to punch her after a twist, Ashley grabbed her arm and pulled Magnus right shoulder out of its place making her mother scream.

In the next succession of movements, Magnus managed to put her shoulder back in place by hitting the wall and somehow, she also got rid of the heels she was using until then. Her lack of shoes did an enormous difference, giving her a range of movements she lacked before. She also thanked that her pants were elastic enough to survive the high kicks without breaking. On the sideways, SG-1 was looking in shock the fight. At some point, Jack tried to intervene but was caught by Nikola who kept a solid hold on the Colonel.

"You interrupt this, and consider yourself gone," Nikola had whispered dangerously, Jack stopped moving but Nikola straining arms didn't let go. Sam had heard him and remembered those conversations with Ashley about her issue, and she stopped Janet with a hand.

"We don't stand a chance in there," She whispered to her friend, and Janet noticed she was right, the speed, the movements, the force they were using, they would end up injuring themselves if tried to stop it.

After one hour of sharing punches, low blows, kicks and one or another broken bone or joint, and putting them back in place in the strangest ways. Both started to look exhausted, Ashley's eyes began to return to her natural hue. The movements were slower than before, and they didn't have the same force.

"Enough?" Magnus whispered wobbling in place when Ashley's eyes didn't change after a while. And they were taking longer to start again.

After the last round, Helen still had to put back in place her left shoulder, right wrist; and by the way her left ankle felt, she knew something was out of place in there too. And of course, she had at least one broken rib and several bruised ones. As for Ashley… She wasn't any better: Her right shoulder was off, so was her elbow. And by the way she was standing Helen knew that she had hurt her knee too. Ashley nodded and then without further notice she fell limp on the floor. Janet ran to Ashley, as Magnus limped her way to a place to sit.

"Nikola, can you put Ashley's shoulder, elbow, and knee back in its place, please? " She said loud enough for him to pick it. He rushed towards Ashley's side and looked at the Doctor who was taking a protective stance beside Ashley. "Be careful; I believe she got some broken ribs too."

"Will you give me space to work? It's better if I do it while she's still out." Nikola hissed and then with a quick movement fixed her shoulder.

"What the hell was that?" O'Neill asked, from where he was standing, being restrained by Henry. "Are you crazy? Did you abuse your own daughter? What kind of crazy person does that?" She sighed

"Colonel O'Neill, regardless of whatever you think of me, I do care about my daughter," she commented putting her wrist back in place. She grimaced at the pain, then stood up again and limped towards a wall, "However, I do care for the well-being of the people who work at this facility too," she said and hit her shoulder against the wall, letting out a small cry. "Nikola, did you finish? I'll need help with the ankle," he nodded, and she slid to the floor. Another crack echoed the room as Nikola placed her ankle back in its rightful place and then helped her stand up. "I'm sorry I need a hot shower now, and my clothes need to be discarded on the first garbage I see… I liked this suit," she pouted, "Can you take Ashley to her assigned room?"

"Yes," Nikola nodded and walked to lift Ashley as if she was weightless. "Can you walk?"

"I will be able in a couple of minutes," she nodded. They started to move slowly. Henry quickly moved to become Helen's support of sorts.

"I think we should take her to the infirmary, so I can have a look at what you have done to her." Janet intervened positioning herself by the door, blocking their way.

"No!" Magnus hissed. "If she wakes up in your infirmary, the whole point of this will be missing, and we will have to repeat the sparring. And I am most definitively not in good shape right now. Neither is she."

"What do you suggest then?" Sam tried to pacify Janet with her question.

"Her shoulder is back in place, so are her knee and elbow," Nikola added, "everything else is in its way into repairing itself. You know how much you and I hate repairing, don't you Helen, dear?" Magnus nodded, "I do hope she doesn't. But Helen's right, the best thing for her is taking her to her room and let her rest. She will be back with us in eight hours, give it or take," He said looking straight into Janet's eyes. Helen looked at him with a thankful glance; she knew that if she were the one telling that, they wouldn't believe her words.

"I think that the best is for her to go to the infirmary. There we can make sure she gets the appropriated solution for what you have done to her." Janet added angrily. Helen hissed closing her eyes.

"I'm her doctor as well as her mother. And I do know what it is better for her and what you are suggesting isn't. However, I'm confident you will find a way to try and take her anyway. Thereby, you have forty-five minutes to analyze her. Nikola, would you keep her accompanied and see that the time frame is held?"

"Of course. The same infirmary we were in before?" Janet nodded. "Should we start the way there then?" They turned around and advanced.

"And you?" Janet stopped Helen despite all the hatred she currently felt towards her. But she was also hurt, "you should also go to the infirmary, you probably made more damage putting anything in place by yourself, than she did on you."

"All I need is a hot shower and food. Then, we can restart that meeting, and I can go ahead and explain this to all of you." She pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I want you to go to the infirmary too. I can't let you walk around knowing you aren't in the same condition you were."

"Magnus, you should go," Will added from behind her, "Just to make them at ease."

"But first a hot shower," She said, grinning at him when he gave her an energy bar from her bag. "Shall we now?"

With everyone agreeing, Jack, Daniel, Janet, Nikola and the fainted Ashley, moved towards the infirmary followed close by Henry, General Hammond, and a pale looking Catherine. Teal'c and Sam were walking Helen to her room, Will had changed places with Henry and was now helping Helen to walk. Sam entered the room to check everything was okay, as Helen finally sat on her bed.

"I will pick you up in fifteen? Is that enough?" She asked Helen nodded.

"Samantha?" Helen had called before she opened the room door again, "I am not trying to rush you to say something that you may regret, but if I am going to the infirmary, they will want me to explain how in the world I have nothing broken. And knowing your Doctor, she will try to check my DNA. And if she does…" she trailed.

"She will find is similar to mine."

"Yes, I'll do whatever is in my hands to avoid telling or making them fill the blanks of our relationship. However, I need you to be conscious of the possibility of them finding out, before you get a chance to explain." Sam nodded once, and Magnus winked at her. "Do try not to worry, everything will result in the best possible way. Now, go… I'm in a desperate need of that shower." She grinned, and Sam nodded, leaving the room.

 **Twenty minutes later**

 **SGC Infirmary**

 **Janet's POV**

 **"** You were right about the extent of the damage that Ashley had," I said, and Helen hums at me, with a raised eyebrow. "You could look more excited," I add. She snorts.

"Yes, I could. However, as the Doctor that I am, it would be downright silly not to know what damage she was having seeing that I was responsible for inflicting it." She adds sourly, and I gulp, she's right.

"They are finishing with her cast and then she is free to go," I said trying to improve our mood.

"She doesn't need a cast," She comments, and I'm about to respond her daughter must use it thanks to the damage that she just pointed she had made.

"If I were you, I wouldn't try," Nikola adds joining us in the small divide in which I'm examining her. "I already spend enough saliva on trying to convince her from not to do it, but you might want to check her ears when she finishes with you because they don't seem to be working."

"Who's with her now?"

"Henry, he is growling to all the staff that dares to look at your daughter in the wrong way. He also offered to remain behind while we return to the meeting." Helen smiles at him softly. Then flinches, making him frown.

"He is still recovering himself," she points, and I wonder what kind of recovering is the tech doing since he didn't seem injured when I examined him.

"Yes, as you might know my memory is quite good and therefore, I managed to remember that, and that's why I already rejected his offering. Although, I'm quite confident he will sit with me anyway until she does wake up. Don't worry; I'm perfectly capable of getting rid of the cast once she's back to us." He grins charmingly, and I wonder what the hell is going on with them and casts.

"Thanks, Nikola."

"Well, I would stay away from Ashley's cast if I was you, she will need the cast to support herself and some recovery therapy afterward," I see both grinning at me and just nod. Somehow, I got the feeling that I am missing something, "I have to check your injuries now. I recall you got a dislocated shoulder, wrist and ankle?" Magnus nods, "And that's only the last ones… I should check your whole body."

I can see Nikola wriggling his eyebrows in a reflection of him on one of the many instruments across the room. But that makes Helen chuckle and then she adds an 'ouch.' I stand to look at him then at her. And she sighs.

"I have a couple broken ribs and bruised ones too. And no matter how tempting the offer might seem to Nikola, I don't need the x-rays. I assure you that if I died of something I will not blame the Air Force or no one in this facility. Well, you wouldn't manage to kill me since technically, I've been dead for a while." She finishes, and I blush, sadly, even if she says so, I can't let you do that. Can I?

"Can I give you something for the pain then?" I offer, maybe something strong enough would sedate her until I finish? Oh, I am a bad girl.

"There's no need. I do need to eat so that I can get rid of all of the remaining injuries," she adds calmly.

"You are truly serious about eating and healing?" I say I can't believe that crap. It shouldn't be possible.

"Yes, I have let you all know that I am not normal. Right now, I'm still sore, but I have I already burn lunch during the spar. Therefore, I can't fix myself since I don't have a source for it to start." She huffs, "I will explain everything at some point. I just... I'll rather explain it only once; it is not a short story to tell twice." She adds and I'm ready to try another approach.

"You know it is hard to believe in what you said," like I would believe it if she wasn't the one saying it.

"I know that is hard to believe, and I know that when you believe it is even more difficult to try not to look at them, at us... in a different way. People are afraid of what doesn't know, and are more afraid of what they do know but do not understand."

"I did that too, didn't I? I'm sorry, I shouldn't act like that, I should have been more comprehensive, I am a Doctor, and I did adopt an alien child." I smile, and I know she is buying it, "Let's bury the hatchet here, let me finish this and, I'll go with you to the commissary," She smiles at me, "Damn! You and Sam really look alike." But I don't care if you are twins, I will check upon you. You'll see

 **Daniel's Office**

 **"** Teal'c do you find some resemblance on these two?" he asks showing Teal'c a piece of paper and a photograph of the last image that was available in the conference room before everything happened. Teal'c examined them with a critical eye.

"I believe those two were written by the same person, DanielJackson."

"Yeah, that is what I was afraid of." Daniel huffed.

"What is it? What is troubling you."

"Well, the first one… is the scan of the letter attached to the invitation that she sent to me, remember?" Teal'c nodded, "The second one is a picture of the diaries that she showed us at the briefing, I took this picture when Jacob interrupted us, and they were all distracted by him."

"Are you suggesting that she is lying to us?"

"I don't know what I am suggesting, Teal'c ... but I don't like this. I don't like it at all."


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello! Did you miss me? Probably not xD Sorry, I was busy and then sick, and now finally I've managed to ensemble this one. So, hopefully, you still like this by the end of this chapter. Right?**

 **Enjoy!**

 **M.**

 **PS: I don't know where all that love part came out from.**

 **Chapter 23**

"Okay, Doctor Magnus you are free to go. Although I would advise to let me put some bandages on your wrist and ankle for support." Helen smiled and jumped on her feet not even wincing when her 'injured' foot reached the floor as Janet expected she would. "I'll take the weight out of that ankle If I was you. Of course, if I were you, I would also give me a cast and some recovery therapy… But," she trailed.

"There's no need. What I'm desperate need of is some form of sustenance, and I seem to remember you offered to accompany me to the mess hall if I was a good enough patient." Helen finished as Janet got rid of her gloves and walked to wash the powder out of her hand. "Which I believe I was."

"That I did. Let me check on your daughter first."

"Lead the way then," Helen nodded.

They walked to the bed in which Ashley was sleeping. Her breath was even, and she looked odd to Helen's mind, and she had seen her daughter in countless of weird situations before. Now, one leg had a white cast from mid-thigh and down low finishing barely below the tip of her toes which to Magnus's amusement were painted in a bright shade of pink. 'Ashley is going to be extremely embarrassed when she figures out that everyone has seen her favorite shade of fluorescent pink,' Helen thought to herself.

Ashley's other leg was covered by a knee immobilizer which told her the previous injuries were partially fixed during the length of the fight, which made sense since when longer the fight larger the wear. Finishing her inspection with both of her arms which were in a similar situation since immobilizers took most of the area.

Her daughter also had an IV and a heart rate monitor that for her were a bit too much, but she would give the SGC Doctor space to do what she knew was the best, even if most of it didn't apply to them. Speaking of the Doctor, as soon as she moved closer both Nikola and Henry looked towards Helen who gave them a little nod to let them know she was okay with it. And she was allowed to start checking Ashley's condition.

The nod didn't go by unnoticed by Janet. The way Nikola stood close to Helen and the small no-conversation they had by glancing at each other's eyes also wasn't unnoticed by her. And left Janet wondering what the hell was going on between those two since the only duo she knew could do such thing was Jack and Sam, and there was a unique history between them.

"Are you ready?" Helen asked once she saw Janet place Ashley's chart back in place. And the petite woman nodded, gesturing Magnus to walk. "Everything okay with my daughter Ashley?"

Janet found a little weird that Helen had specified the name of her daughter since she only had ever introduced them to one and hadn't mentioned anything about another daughter or son. But Doctor Frasier figured it could happen; it wasn't as far-fetched that another mini Magnus was running around the sanctuary and they hadn't learned about since, as far as Janet knew, the strange woman had her cards close to her chest and liked to play them one by one.

"As you might have figured out she is stable, I'm blaming her current condition to the pain of the broken bones and sustained injuries which became too much for her to keep going. "

"You are almost correct, Doctor Frasier." Helen accepted.

"Are you saying you agree with me on the fact that she fainted out of pain?"

"No," Helen huffed, "she fainted out of tiredness. The pain she was suffering wasn't enough to make her faint. Or I would have fainted two or three rounds earlier than her."

"What?" Janet added in shock.

"I will explain later, that way I only have to explain it once." Janet didn't like the idea of waiting for an explanation, but she figured it was better to keep in the good graces of Helen. At least, if she was going to try and go ahead with her plan.

They strolled to the commissary and Janet tried hard not to gape with the amount of food that had found its way to the Doctor's tray and frowned when Helen leaned forward to grab the last blue jelly of the group. 'I'm just seeing it as a coincidence because they look alike,' Janet thought to herself. Helen started to eat, quickly and methodically as if eating on determined order would make a difference.

"It makes a difference," Helen added after noticing Janet staring at the way she was eating, "the combination of the contents of the food is assimilated faster once they get to my stomach in certain order. Rest assured, I might suffer for wanting to have control over things, but I'm have not OCD."

"What?" Janet feigned innocence.

"Or I haven't been diagnosed like that." She added, taking another bite. "You'll see Doctor Frasier, you were and are staring at the way I kept eating in a certain order." Helen shrugged, "It's alright, you are not the first one who wonders. It drives Will crazy because it doesn't seem to make sense on his logic since it isn't based on sizes or colors but the contents." She smiled, before going for another round in the same way. Janet kept her eyes on the fork until she felt Helen's amused eyes on her and shook herself out of it.

"For what I understand you and Doctor Zimmerman are an item?" Helen raised her eyebrow. She wondered what her personal relationship with Will had to do with any of the situations they had been through since the Doctor's arrival to the Sanctuary.

"Yes." She admitted with a smile not giving away any more information about anything, waiting for Janet to continue. She figured if the Doctor had a point to ask about it, it would come out sooner rather than later.

"What about Mr. Tesla?" Helen tried to keep her face expressionless, and she had a quite decent amount of years of mastering that art. She wondered if Nikola had awoken passions inside the little Doctor. God's knew she considered him attractive and if their relationship was not as complicated as it was, then they might have gone for it a long time ago.

"What about him?" She asked veiling all her thoughts in innocence.

"Well, I find your relationship with him rather intriguing if I must say so," Janet added taking a sip of the tea she had bought.

"There's nothing fascinating about a long-standing friendship, Nikola and I are old friends," Helen stated.

"They share a daughter," Sam added from behind Helen, making Helen shrug.

"Is that right?"

"Yes."

"Ashley?"

"No, Ashley's my daughter, not Nikola's."

"And she isn't Doctor Zimmerman's daughter either?" Helen raised an eyebrow amused by the turn of the conversation and still intrigued by it. It was quite a while since the last time she had a girl chat.

"No."

"And yet your partner is Doctor Zimmerman?" Janet inquired again, trying to reach a point that could create enough distraction but failing every time.

"Yes."

"And Tesla is okay with you having a something with the young Doctor?"

"Oh, he is more than okay, he pushed them together." Helen turned around to observe Sam, she wasn't sure if she was annoyed or not with her comments. On the one hand, the fact that she had told out loud that she and Nikola had a daughter was an advance of sorts. If the truth about her origins were to come out, that would be explicit anyway. But the part about Nikola being the one pushing her to Will, "Oh, shit.. .that was too much, I'm sorry. It's just both Nikola, and Will told me the same. They also told me you and Nikola are best friends since forever which makes sense."

Janet smiled to herself when she noticed that Helen was with her full attention on Sam, so she changed their cups for a quick instant, and emptied the sedatives she calculated would work on Helen on the tea she was having before. And then, she replaced the drinks again.

"I mean, you must be best friends to decide to share a daughter, even if it was artificial insemination and all. It's a bond that won't break just because you are angry at each other or something," Helen placed a hand on Sam's knee to calm her down. "I'm babbling, aren't I?"

"Yes," both Doctors smiled.

"Did I hear right? Artificial insemination?" Janet intervened again to avoid looking guilty.

"Yes."

"Are you going to answer all my questions like that?" Helen grinned.

"Yes. Or you could try and not to make it so simple like before, and ask something I can't answer with yes or no." She suggested.

"There's something I don't get, why is that you wanted to know about them, Janet?" Sam asked. Helen nodded in appreciation since she too wanted to know the reason behind the whole conversation.

"Oh well, to tell you both the truth. I saw Nikola, and you have one of those quiet conversations that supposedly happen only with soulmates." Helen raised her eyebrow. "You know, the ones like you and Jack are used to share?" Sam blushed. "But I guess I just never got to that level of friendship with another male." She finished mischievously.

"It fascinating to find someone who still believes in the notion of one soul mate. Especially one in the sciences. I find it quite impossible or at least, quite painful. I can't fully grasp why, if there are billions of options in this planet, you would have just one to who you supposedly belong. And even if billions of creatures sounds like enough to search for, how could you be sure there was one for you in this planet when there are so many others available?"

"So you don't believe in soul mates, and finding your one true love?" Sam asked intrigued, Helen huffed.

"I did, once."

"You did?"

"Yes, a long time ago. And then he turned out to be a psycho killer. And not quite the man I believed he was. The only good thing that came out of that relationship was Ashley. Alas, no … I don't believe in a soul mate. And I did thought I had found the one several times before, but I'm yet to discover how you can surely define a person as 'the one' without limiting them and their personalities."

"Wow."

"But how can you not believe in soul mates?"

"I didn't say I didn't believe in soul mates. Is the fact that we are limited to one of those per life is what I don't trust. From my experience, you can and will encounter several of what people define as soul mates in different stages of your life. There's no Disney happily ever after, just a bunch of days in which one can try and be happy with whatever cards you have, and sometimes, they are awful even if he is your soul mate, as it was with Ashley's father. Now, this is a long conversation, and I'm quite willing to skip it altogether. Also, I'm ready to go back and explain what you have witnessed." Helen finished the conversation by standing out and taking her now empty tray to the disposal area.

 **Conference Room**

 **Magnus POV**

Doctor Frasier, Samantha and I walked silently to the meeting room a while ago, thankfully they didn't ask more questions about my take on soul mates and love, because, seriously how can I explain how sad it would be for me to have just one perfect partner out there? Just considering my original lifespan (and my luck) he for sure is dead. Anyhow, I digress.

We walked by, and Samantha detoured to enter the office of her General, who came out looking a bit more, hmm… What word to use? Colder, perhaps? And yes, I understand it's not often that you see a mother beating the hell out of her daughter no matter how much she claims to be a Doctor and know better.

"Don't worry, General. It's not what it looked like; there's a reason behind my actions." I add sadly. "I don't like to do that, either." I stop there; it doesn't hear all that better. Probably sound exactly like every other abuser out there. However, I'm not. And must find a way to explain all this to the rest of the group without sounding all that terrible.

"SG-1 to Conference Room, bring guests," A voice calls over their communication system, and I see Samantha jogging upstairs.

"General, we just need to wait now." She comments and takes what I believe is her seat. We don't wait long for William and Doctor Jackson to arrive; they seem more acquainted. Probably Will has convinced Doctor Jackson that he is in fact harmless. Or the less dangerous of us all at least. But even if they seem a bit more comfortable with each other, an airman is joining them, for precaution I guess.

"Helen," he winks at me, and I nod at him. Then, I hear something I wasn't planning on listening.

"Oh, look Commander Gruff looking guy! If she wakes up and one of us is not there… Then havoc will happen!" comes in Nikola's voice.

"Yeah… havoc! All the havoc a twelve-year-old can create in one military facility."

"No, Ashley is twenty-five." Nikola's voice explained condescendingly, "And it doesn't matter how military this facility is, it will be pandemonium if she wakes up in a bad mood," and I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose, since this time he is correct. "Helen, please explain to the gruff boy, I need to return to Ashley… or at least Henry need to do so." He nearly pouts, but he controls himself by standing in a defensive stance.

Colonel O'Neill looks at me then at Doctor Frasier, as if daring me to contradict the orders to present themselves here. Which, I will do.

"I need one of them with Ashley when she wakes up," I affirm, and the Colonel squints at me.

"I will place guards at her door," the Colonel adds, and I nod agreeing with his position. What else can I do?

"Very well then, pick the one you like the most between those two and get them to my daughter's room and you got a deal." I smile politely.

"You can go," he points to Henry. "Airman, take him to the room we picked them from and mount guard out there."

"Yes, sir."

"Please Henry, keep her calm and help her get out of whatever she wants to get rid of," I whisper to Henry, so quiet that I know the only other one who could've understood what I told him was Nikola. I sigh, "I apologize for the interruption, I wasn't expecting it to occur already. However, the situation got out of hand earlier when the analysis was attempted."

"Ha! Are you going to blame Janet now?"

"I'm sorry if it looked like that but no. I'm not placing any responsibility on anyone of this facility. You simply ignore what you are dealing with when concerned to anyone of us… And by us, yes, I mean abnormals."

"Are you going to explain why you beat the hell out of your kid? Or are you going to keep attempting to sell us the whole abnormals and humans can live in peace speech?" Colonel O'Neill asks with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm not attempting to sell you any speech, Colonel. And yes, I'm going to explain it. But for it to make sense you need to know a little more about Ashley," I take a deep breath. "A couple of years ago, her abnormality wasn't exactly dangerous. She was fastest and stronger than your average human, but she was a regular girl." I smile sadly.

"For a twenty-five-year-old who looks like eighteen and had a Ph.D. at Sixteen," Doctor Jackson adds with a smile. And when I'm about to answer him I feel something off, yet I can't quite place it. I blink a couple of times.

"It's part of my knowledge that you weren't as far behind in the educational department, Doctor Jackson. Ashley is far from being something never seen, at least academically speaking. But yes, is hardly rare for an abnormal of our kind to have higher IQs than usual. Of course, among other differences." I blink again trying to focus, but everything is becoming more and more blurry.

"Our kind?"

"Well, yes. As you know, I am abnormal, so it was Ashley's father." The world is moving a little faster than I like, but I keep myself straight.

"Oh, the whole Addams Family," I guess for the sarcastic tone that it was Colonel O'Neill.

"Oh! I wish," I say, really at least Morticia does have a loving husband who doesn't go on a killing spree, steal her daughter and then reappear to save her from their old friend machinations. I close my eyes hoping that the world stop moving, but I continue nonetheless, "Her more complex abnormal traits were dormant."

"Were dormant? As in not anymore?"

"Yes." I try to keep my eyes open but they are not working, and I can't seem to find the reason why. "Ashley, giving and taking a few facts, was a very ordinary girl. Until…" I feel a bout of nausea and inhale deeply.

"A couple of years ago," Will starts, and he's probably blaming this to sensitivity on the subject. "Our biggest adversary at that time had managed to create and release a virus that affected only abnormals; they wanted to start a battle for the world domination by cleaning the planet of their abnormals." He sighed, "Sadly, divide and conquer can work on both ways. While Helen and a team were trying to find a cure to the virus, Henry and Ashley went to a facility with the hopes of getting information about the plans and the structure of the virus."

"We lost them for a while, there was radio silence, and we didn't even notice since we were concentrated on finding the cure."

"You didn't notice your daughter went missing?"

"I did… but when I could do anything about it, it was already late."

"It's not uncommon for Ashley or any other team to go uncommunicated for a wide period; often communication is not our priority."

"Especially if you are in an embarrassing situation." Nikola pointed. "Only the courageous call over when stuck badly." I chuckle, and I know he is grinning. My mind provides me with a ton of images of Nikola trapped in the strangest situations.

"Okay, let's pretend losing someone is a common occurrence," Colonel O'Neill concedes while I try desperately to gain control over my body which is slipping through and I'm yet to figure out why.

"Henry confessed later that they got trapped, and he was separated from Ashley. He was severely tortured, but he didn't know if she had the same fate or not."

"They found one missing ingredient which could help us fix the whole mess the Cabal had created," Nikola started, "it was something very rare and which was secured to extremes. It was thought to be freed only by five distinct abnormalities combined." I swear to myself, why on Earth I'm such an idiot to prefer talking standing? I should find a seat.

"Let me guess. You managed to get it?"

"Why of course! Then, we figured out Ashley was already tampered with since she disappeared with the ingredient." Well, finding a seat and getting to it are different things altogether.

"She went missing for months; nobody knew anything about her whereabouts or possible hiding places of the Cabal. It was very frustrating." I finished biting my lip, so the whimper I want to let out doesn't escape.

"Ok, what happened with Ashley?" Doctor Frasier asks.

"One day she appeared. There was a little issue though; she wasn't herself. She wasn't the cute little girl I've come to known but a fully advanced abnormal. One whose first mission was attacking us and see if we could take her down," Nikola sighs. "Obviously, she succeeded. We were in no position of attacking Helen's daughter to kill her, even if she was willing to kill all of us." I feel his eyes on me, but I'm just taking care of breathing in and out slowly. "Then they created copies of her."

"Like clones?" someone asks. I think it was General Hammond. God grief! Will the world stop spinning around?

"Yes and no," Will provides.

"We found five missing persons whose DNA was the perfect blank copy, no abnormalities whatsoever which to your probable utter horror is rare. Most people have at least one or two mutations that avoid their DNA to be untainted. And therefore, the copy couldn't happen just with anyone."

"You mean we are all abnormals?"

"No," he snorted, "I mean we all have mutated genes which are entirely different things. Anyhow, they copied Ashley's DNA and made what we called a super soldiers team. Their objective was to destroy the Sanctuary Network using Ashley's knowledge of security and structures."

"Yet you are still around…"

"Yes, we are. They aren't."

"It was not as easy as it sounds and they were very close to end it. They brought down four of our biggest houses and then they came to Old City, our previous home." Will says. I inhaled deeply again.

"If Ashley hadn't come to her senses in the last second, I wouldn't be here today. Probably none of us would."

"And what the hell all of this has to do with you beating her up?!"

"Since she returned to us, we are trying to get her back to normal. She has made a tremendous advance in controlling her body. However, she is still under treatment, and she still needs to fight and do certain things to remain controlled ". I say between breaths. "We fight her to tire her when she exhausts her blood lust she faints to heal herself, and it also allows her to gain more control. Today she showed a significant advance." I complete.

"A significant advance? How come that is considered an advance?"

"Because we can show you what she used to be..." I say pushing my laptop towards Will, I hear him fumble with it, and then I hear the collective gasp. Then he pushes play, and I listen to the fights, I open my eyes enough to see what's going on around us, but my eyes drift towards the screen in where Ashley has black eyes, long nails and she is appearing and reappearing out of nowhere. I feel Will's eyes on me, he knows.

"Magnus?" Will call me and I start to summarize my status: Nausea, numbness, drowsiness

"What the hell is that?" at least three of them ask. Trouble breathing, inability to focus, tingly sensations on all extremities.

"Well, she is now a whole species by herself. She possesses characteristics of three species, at least. However, she is in control, and she is... not dangerous at all…" Tiredness, inability to keep the eyes open, heavy lids. And then, it hits me; I look straight to Doctor Frasier, or to where I think she is "Why?"

I hear a bag falling to the floor, and I feel Will by my side before I can say anything else.

"Doctor Magnus are you alright?" General Hammond asks

"Doctor Frasier, why have you drugged me?" I ask, and I feel Will hands moving to support me, "thanks," I let out quietly. And we start to move to the nearest empty chair slowly. And that, of course, it's Will's, and it is on the other side of the table. Just my luck.

"What?!" Nikola shouts

"Nikola! Behave!" I add before collapsing in the chair finally. He growls loud enough for me to hear. "I'm waiting, Doctor. And I need to know with what?"

"I... you wouldn't let me look at you… it is for your own safety…" She lets out scared. I guess that whatever she gave me, this wasn't supposed to be the result.

"Wait? You didn't notice before?" Nikola asks I can distinguish some worries in his tone.

"No, I mean, I felt odd and couldn't place it, I still can't… It's just the symptoms what provided such conclusion. Therefore, I believe that whatever she gave me was in the food, and that's the reason why I can't trace it. Bloody hell! I hate sedatives." I say as loud as I can, and I know it's barely a whisper by now.

"So do I," Will chuckles, "is the floor moving already? Or it's just because I'm too close?" Will jokes making me laugh, only him can come up with jokes at this point.

"Oh, the floor is moving since I started to talk, I just got my ego boosted believing that it was my fascinating chat." I joke back.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Both Will and Nikola scream to her at once. Will kneels beside the chair, and I hear him searching for something in his backpack. Ah, it was his bag what hit the floor before.

"I wanted to get a better look at her injuries, and she wouldn't let me." The doctor says, and she sounds terrified at the moment.

"You don't go around drugging people, do you?" Nikola snaps, "She told you she was alright!"

"Yes, she told me. But her ankle was still sprained and so was her shoulders and wrists! I just wanted to sedate her to have a proper look of her injuries."

"Well… you could have killed her, you know?" Nikola screams to her, his voice sounding a little vampiresque. Will handles me a cereal bar and winks at me.

"Go ahead," he says and like I would reject one at this point. It doesn't take me one minute to finish that, he smiles and handles me another one.

"I don't … I didn't…" Janet says sounding a bit desperate

"Nikola, stop it. She's already scared as it is. I figured it on time, and now that we know, all that I need is to sleep or to eat. I am already eating; I'll scan myself to see if everything is fixed when whatever you gave me wears off. Doctor Frasier, next time, please do ask…Nikola is right; you could've killed me if I didn't figure it on time." I say the only thing that I don't like is to be seen as weak in front of this whole table.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know." She pleads.

"You weren't supposed to know," I say chewing the third bar already and feeling slightly better. At least the focus is somewhat back. "It's strange; sedatives will only make me really dizzy, you need to put us in three or four times the strongest thing that you have." I smile at her; I know she was only trying to do her job and that I was after all an impossible patient.

"Great, so you go on Sam's list then, at least you are not the only one with strange dosages of sedatives Major," I know that I paled a little; hopefully no one would add two and two with that

"Will you let me look at you know?" Janet asks, and I see she was trying to care for my well-being. In a very messed up way, but she was trying.

"You can have a look. However, what you see today won't be the same that you will see tomorrow or later." I sigh. "Please, all of you need to understand that we are here with no means of doing something wrong. We want to help, and we have enough power and technology to do it. We are here to share information with you. We are bringing you some insight into a world inside your world that you knew nothing about and we are doing it willingly. Why are you still trying to get to the point where you don't trust us, and we don't confide in you?"

"Because you are hiding too much," O'Neill stats, well he has a point.

"Like what?" Will shouts "You don't even give us time to tell you anything."

"Ok… let's start with what kind of creature are you, Doctor Magnus," I look at O'Neill. Something tells me that he knows more than he is letting out.

"Are you scared of me being different or are you afraid of what I might be because I look like her?" I said pointing to Sam

"Neither, I just want to know what kind of creature are you…" another wave of nausea comes to me, "Just how much sedative did you put?"

"The same amount that I used for Teal'c "

"Ok, so I have less than half an hour to be working properly again. I really, really hate sedatives… "

"Only half an hour?" Janet asks.

"Less than that," I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Or more, I won't know for sure until I get to that point. But I need to sleep, that will reduce the time. And the probability of having to call a cleaning team to this room."

"Water?" Will asks, and I nod. And sip on it slowly. General Hammond looks at me then at his watch.

"Well, I believe we could all use some distraction. Let's reconvene here at 0800 and then, Doctor Magnus; I won't take more excuses for you not to explain what exactly is that you are."

"There's nothing to worry about in there, General." I smile

"Yes… Is just another, extremely long and complicated history." Nikola grins smugly.

"It's not that long Nikola," I tell him. "But I will be thrilled if you help me get to my room. And no, I'm not implying that." I grin knowing with his mind would go. It always goes straight to the gutter.

"You are not fun, Helen. Not fun." He sighs, and I yelp when he lifts me from the chair onto his arms.

"I can walk, Nikola." I roll my eyes at him.

"Yes, I know, dear. But you asked me to help. Therefore, you get to be carried by me… So suck it up, Princess."

"Nikola…" I warn, but there's no use.

"Can anyone point me to her room?" Samantha and a guard walk in front of him. On our back is Doctor Frasier with Will. And I sigh, I hate this show of weakness.

"I should have let you hanging in that cave," I mutter, and he grins.

"Oh, you love having me around."

"Yes, having you embarrassing me that's the part I don't like."

"Then next time… ask it to the protégé, and you can limp your way to the room," he wriggles his eyebrows.

"Oh hush."

"You know? You two are ridiculously adorable." Samantha says, and we laugh

"That's what I will call wishfully thinking." Nikola grins, "and you, Dear should be sleeping. Otherwise, why would I be carrying you?"

"Because you tend to take my requests to the extreme?"

"Oh well, there's that too. But let's not blame only me… You have your way of seeking things that can be taken to extremes." He grins wriggling his eyebrows.

"Nikola. Just stop. Your wriggling is making me nauseous. "

"My wriggling? Really? And you were the one in Normandy while I was stuck in Portsmouth with the Nazi spawn."

"Nikola," I warn. And we are thankfully out of the elevator at last.

"Right. Right…. Kept the past in the past." He says.

"What did he say now?" Will amused voice comes from behind.

"He remembered one of my trips to France when he got stuck in London. Are we finally here?" I ask as we stop and I feel my eyes crossing.

"A recent one? Or an old one?"

"One related with Carentan but the one causing the issue in there, not the last one."

"Why is that you manage to make everything sound so intricately complex?"

We manage to exchange a glance before we all answer simply. "Because it is."

"Very well ljubavnica… sleep." He whispers to me; it's been a while since he has called me that. "I will check on Ashley and wolf boy. I'm pretty sure William will be capable of watch over your sleep."

"Thanks, Nikola," I add drowsily.

"Now, who of you will escort me to the infirmary? Or shall I go by myself? Since Helen will be off and William will be glued to her side, and I have nothing more to do than…."

"Oh! Please! Someone take him there! It's better if he's supervised by you if I'm not able to do so myself."

"You heard the lady, and you know she's the one who cares." Nikola grins, and I growl.

"Why did I brought you?"

"Because of my charm, and tremendous intellect."

"Ah, that's right, because you manage to blow things out when unsupervised. Go! Let me sleep."

"You know, someone who doesn't know us might believe I do it on purpose. But no, I'll do it for science and you, dearest. And yet! I'm once again denigrated to nothing more than a pawn."

"Oh, sush! Go."

"Ah," Nikola sighed. "If the lady wishes. Then I must. Come, Doctor Jackson, lead me to take care of her daughter while she's convalescing with her chosen one by her side." I see him grab Doctor Jackson and leave the room leaving a small crew.

"Is he always like that?" Doctor Frasier asks from the corner she has claimed as hers.

"Yes." We all answer. And I see her looking at Samantha since she too has replied in the same manner.

"I… he was around a lot when Henry explained things."

"Poor thing." I comment, "Doctor Frasier, any test you might want to do, will need to be held until I come back to my full senses. Or when the room stops moving, whatever happens first."

"I will let your guards know when she wakes up," William offers

"Come, Janet; there's nothing more to do here." She sounds a little bit harsher than she normally does with who she confessed was her best friend. I hopefully will have a chance to find out the reason behind that. But right now… I need to collapse.

"Helen?" Will asks softly.

"William, If you are pretending not to lay on the bed with me, think better. Standard issued beds aren't as comfortable as they may appear."

"You need to rest, Helen."

"I know, now join me on this dumb bed. Doctor's orders." I grin, and I feel the mattress dipping a little, and I find the most comfortable position I can find, before finally closing my eyes. And when I allow blackness to consume me, I know everything will eventually stop spinning around.


	24. Chapter 24

Sorry Guest! I know that's not typical Janet. And another guest, well you are right. We all should see both sides. Maybe you are just way ahead of me (Between 5 and 6 thousand words are a lot of words to write). For you and all other you who are out there reading this… Thanks for being out there too! And special thanks to you Kittykay20 and don't worry I do intend to give it a proper end (hopefully).

Enjoy!

M.

PS: I'm also taking writers liberties with biology (in case you didn't notice it ? )

 **Chapter twenty-four.**

"Can we talk?" Sam asked Janet the moment they closed the door behind her.

"Sure."

"My lab." The Major affirmed, making the Doctor frown. "No one will interrupt us there," Sam explained once they were in the elevator.

"Okay, we are here. What's going on, Sam?" Janet asked nervously. If someone knew her, that was the woman she had in front of her.

"Why did you do that, Janet? I know you, and you wouldn't do that to anyone! You could've killed her, and you knew it. So please, Janet… Explain to me why on God's Earth did you drug her? Why you risked her life without knowing anything about her medical situation?" The tone of Sam's voice was something Janet had heard a few times, one that had always managed to send a current of fear down her body. "What if she had allergies? Or I don't know, she convulsed or had a heart attack or something? Hmm? What would you have done then?"

"Can you calm down?" Janet asked, "you know? From all of the people in this base, you are the one who knows me the best! I know how to behave, and you are aware that I wouldn't just do it on a whim!" Janet defended herself quietly.

"Then why! Why dared you?" Sam questioned, trying to level her feelings on the matter.

"Because I need to know!" Janet exclaimed.

"That's not enough!" The major growled.

"No?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Why are you so defensive? You've known them for a week!" Janet stopped, trying to understand why her best friend was in such altered mind states. "You know me, Sam. You would never act this way for anyone else. Why these people?"

Sam stopped, Janet was right. Usually, she would trust on her friend's actions and defend her because generally her friend would have given a little more thought to her actions. But, this… The one she could have murdered was her mother, the one she was just starting to know.

"I know you, you are right. I probably wouldn't attack you for your actions being anyone else. However, you wouldn't do this to anyone else. But here you go and do it? Excuse me, if I just don't get it!"

"First, let me clarify things to you, Sam. I didn't do it without knowledge… I tested the sedative on her before, or at least in her blood."

"What?"

"I took her blood remember? And we agreed to two vials for each of them. That's more than enough to the tests we do. So, I also checked other things, like allergies and such. And I tested the sedative against her blood. That's how I knew how much I needed to give her."

"What?"

"Do you see… I knew it wouldn't kill her. Her cells multiplied slowly, but they didn't react poorly to it. You are right, Sam. I don't go around sedating people. I'm a Doctor for crying out loud! I swore to protect people's life not to endanger them! Of course, I knew what I gave to her; she should have fallen asleep. The worse thing it could have happened is for her to sleep longer than I intended. And maybe, some temporary memory loss."

"I still can't believe it," Sam muttered

"You know what? I still can't believe I did it." Janet left out leaning on one of the many racks in Sam's lab.

"What?" Sam whispered.

"Yeah, I doubted the whole time. Then you distracted her for enough time, and she took it. At first, I thought she noticed the flavor of it, but she was so distracted by you. I don't … I don't understand why there's this connection of sorts between you two."

"You could have asked."

"And then what? Wait? Hope for one of you to come clean on what the hell is going on?" She snorted.

"Is that why you did it?"

"I need to know, Sam. If she's … If you are like her. And you are not telling me, and I… I screwed it up, right?"

"Yes, you did," Sam affirmed, then she left herself fall against the rack beside Janet with a sigh.

"Will you forgive me?" The Doctor turned around to find her friend's eyes.

"It's not my forgiveness what you need, Janet. But I do. I don't understand you right now. Hopefully, I will someday."

"What is that don't you understand?"

"Your nerve...I mean, this could go to your file. You know they can ask for your resignation? Your license?"

"What?" The doctor's widened eyes told Sam she hadn't thought it through.

"Yes, Janet! Didn't you realize you put all you have worked for in the line for this?"

"No. no, no, no…"

"Yes. If they complain about your actions, you are toast, Janet. You are at the SGC, don't you know how long people have been behind us to find a way to bring us down and place people they trust, over people we trust? And your position! Hell, your post is what keeps us going!"

"Shit… I…" she huffed. "I wanted to know, to understand… I really wanted to check if she was alright. I didn't want her going around the base with injuries that could've been treated quickly. Injuries that if presented outside should have been dealt with here by me. I never… I swear, Sam. I wanted to know, and I wanted to help her. Not to kill her or to endanger her."

"And yet... you almost did."

They heard some steps approaching Sam's lab, and soon they stopped and knocked the door.

"Hey, girls. What's going on?"

"Daniel! We were just talking about the recent events." Sam waved.

"Oh… Yeah, about that… Now they are all accounted and accompanied; I think there's something you need to see."

"You are not going to tell me anything about my behavior?" Janet asked with a frown.

"Your behavior? Oh! You mean drugging the Doctor… No, I can't. I think I would have done the same if I was given a chance." He added sheepishly. "I'm sorry, and Jack told me it was about time one of us did something to figure out them."

"I could've killed her."

"Yeah, I don't think a sedative is going to kill her if she managed to kill a Goa'uld inside her. But, hey… We won't know for sure until they finally explain." They reached Daniel's lab. "Ah, here. This is the note I was sent, remember? For that conference in Prague?"

"Yeah… what…"

"Wait. This is an image of the expedition journal Doctor Magnus had in her presentation. I sent a fragment of both to a friend who specializes in cryptography, and he says both pieces are from the same person."

"So, she's lying. They know about the gate, but the gate wasn't theirs?" Janet frowned.

"But that would mean Catherine was lying too."

"Right… do you think they known each other and Catherine decided to pay some sort of favor by giving her word inside the SGC? I mean, the last person we would doubt is her." Janet commented.

"Have you shown this to Colonel O'Neill?" Sam asked nervously.

"No, he's is incredibly giddy about all this situation, as I said he believes we aren't doing anything, and we are putting all too openly in their hands. If I show him these, he probably will snap, and I don't dare to think what will happen then."

"Please, don't show him this." Sam placed her hand over his and gave it a little squeeze. "Not yet. She's not lying."

"How are you so sure, Sam?" He asked looking at her straight in her eyes.

"I know she's not lying. If you don't or can't trust her, then, believe me, Daniel. I know what I'm telling you." She pleaded. Daniel observed her for a while and then nodded.

"You know something else, don't you? You were always occupied when we were down there. What did they tell you, that they hadn't told us?"

"I… I'm sorry. I can't tell… Not yet. Things need to be calmer before I can talk to you. I want to, but I can't."

"Sam, you know you can tell me, us, everything."

"I know. I just can't."

"Are they pressuring you to do something?"

"No, I just have to figure it out in my head first, then I will talk. I promise. I must go now before I say something I don't want to say."

"Sure, go." Janet watched the exchange with apprehension.

"What do you think she's hiding, Janet?" Daniel asked his friend.

"I don't know. There's something I might know, but I promised her I wouldn't divulge. Thus, I'm stuck too." She chewed her lips.

"What?"

"Do you think my work is in danger after what I did?"

"Your work?"

"Yes, they could present a complaint, and I could lose my job and my license, what I did…"

"No Doctor would do, I get it. But you are military too, and you are sensing something isn't right. As I told you, I understand your actions and Jack does too, and he probably will back you up with Hammond. However, I think you are making this bigger than it will be. I mean, if she wanted to present charges or get you out of here, wouldn't she make it while she was half awake and there was evidence of her status?"

"Yes, but there are cameras in there."

"And they will show … what?" Jack's voice joined them, "That the woman leaned against the wall and then, Doctor Zimmerman helped her to a chair and gave her something to eat. And then Tesla grabbed her and walked her to her room? If we want to, Janet… And I'm not saying is the right thing, Daniel. But if we need, we can say it was a consequence of the stress of the fight she had with her daughter, which ended up with her daughter in your infirmary. And there's a form where she rejects your care, isn't?"

"Yes."

"We are taking this to extremes, Jack. I don't think they are going to present any kind of charges against Janet."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because she has no way to present them. She's dead." Daniel pointed.

"What! She died?"

"No… she's dead. I found this." He said showing them a small obituary in a newspaper. "Granted, R.I.P Dr. Helen Magnus. Those we love don't go away; they walk beside us every day. Always in our thoughts, forever in our hearts. A long life well lived, you shall always be remembered. W. Isn't exactly pointing at her. But, I also found this…"

"Home of the Magnus family explodes, there are no survivors. Okay, but if she's dead... then how come she's in our VIP room sleeping?"

"I guess questions just keep piling up."

"Wait, Tesla said she taught xenobiology to people I know, inadvertently he might have given us a lead." Janet added walking towards the phone in Daniel's office, "Doctor Young, Doctor Frasier."

 **Infirmary around the same time**

"So… how it went?" Henry asked at Nikola when the vampire joined him in Ashley's current room.

"It didn't."

"What?"

"The Doctor drugged Helen. Sedatives she concluded by her symptoms. She's sleeping now, and I was sent here to help in case our girl wakes up."

"Please don't call her that," Henry muttered.

"Only when she's sleeping. She already gave me a mean punch once for calling her that, and I fancy my looks without having to heal myself due to her antics."

"Wait… did you just said the Doctor Frasier sedated Magnus?"

"Yes, I didn't believe the little minx had it on her, but she did. And Helen didn't notice her food was poisoned until it was almost too late. You have to give it to her; Doctor Frasier managed what many wished and never dared."

"Is the Doc alright?"

"Yes… asleep. Keep the pace, will you?"

"Duh! I know she's sleeping, that doesn't tell me if she's okay or not."

"Well, her heart rate was slower than regularly but still normal. Don't give me that look! She asked me to take her to her room, I carried her there and took particular attention to her rate which was what I would expect for her under the effects of sedatives which, let me be honest with you, it's been a hell of a long time since I saw her using them. In conclusion, she is okay and will be better after she had slept through it."

"And the talk?"

"We were postponed until tomorrow at eight."

"Cool." Henry grinned.

"Not cool, but effective."

"Well, at least we all be there tomorrow," he added dismissively. They fell silent watching over Ashley's breathing until Nikola started to pace.

"I need to do something." Nikola huffed.

"Chill out, Vlad. We are stuck here."

"Yes, I'm aware of that fact. It doesn't give me less need to do something; I'll even shower if that would make any difference."

"Oh! please do." Henry smiled, and Nikola squinted at him. "Hey, it's about time you do so. But since we are stuck in here, I got you this."

"A notebook! There's not much I can do on it, alas… Better than doing nothing. Better than a bath!"

"What's better than a bath?"

"What kind of question is that Samantha? Anything is better than sitting in a tub and watch how your body grease floats around you amongst the dirt and germs and soapy foam."

"Okay," she trailed.

"Argh, please don't tell me you are like Helen and love seating on the tub with wine and music and a book while the boiling water slowly becomes lukewarm," Nikola added with disgust.

"And how exactly you know that?"

"I've traveled a lot with the woman, give her a week in the desert, and she will crave the bath enough to announce exactly what soapy thing she will pour. And dragging her out of there take a lot of convincing." Sam grimaced, "Oh no, you are…"

"Yeah, if you put it like that, I love baths. " She grinned sheepishly.

"Oh well, not everyone can be perfect." He added with a sigh.

"How's she?"

"No changes so far which are far from being unexpected," Nikola answered.

"Yeah, but if you start turning that thing on, I can give you the scanners, and we can know for sure how she really is." Henry provided showing him the scanners.

"Why didn't you said that before!"

"Because you haven't given me time!"

"What are you two talking about?"

"Wait and watch, dear. Just wait and watch how my geniality can now tell us how she's without compromising anything." Nikola grinned. Sam just raised an eyebrow.

"You know, watching that expression coming from you or the Doc is scary," Henry muttered. "I have no idea how nature was capable of creating two of you. I guess it is how Magnus said and there are just so many combinations of genes possible, and we are going to repeat at some point." The tech guy explained to her while Nikola connected what looked like a metal detector and moved it over Ashley's body grinning more and more widely as he moved it around.

"She told you that?"

"Yup, it makes sense I guess. It's not like there's no age gap. You are what? Twenty-five? I guess mostly for the rank you are. And Magnus is… Well, her. And there's been enough age difference between your probable birth year and hers, which could result on the nature having repeated the same pattern used to create the Doc. Right?"

"I guess so… I'm not that much into biology." Sam added with a shrug.

"Neither am I." Henry grinned.

"Aha! Well, she's healing correctly. Given the status of her injuries, she should be up for forty-five minutes or an hour. Fully recovered."

"What?" Sam asked surprised.

"Well, we all heal quicker when sleep. We call it a dead sleep when we get to this point. But here, check it for yourself. This is her current scan and as you can see," Nikola pointed to the screen of the laptop in which what looked like an x-ray appeared. He clicked on the places where the cast was set and augmented it. "See, the regeneration is almost complete. By eight tomorrow, she won't have any trace of having a broken bone before."

"How's that possible?"

"Remember the…" he looked out, "SV?"

"The source of the serum.? Yes." Sam nodded remembering they had discussed the sanguine vampiris blood before.

"Well, allow me to give you a sneak peek of what's need to be out at some point." Sam nodded, they were standing close, and that allowed Nikola to lower her voice tone so it wouldn't be overheard from outside. "When the Cabal took Ashley, they treated her with it. We found out the whole procedure they've done in her, a whole gruesome thing. Well, and that's what is allowing her to heal herself at this rate. But, as we might have told you before, the cells won't stop by just fixing the issue… They will repair it until all the structure is back to what it was before. So, the only injuries Ashley sports now, are all those she had before she was treated."

"So, if she got anything broken before the change the bone was repaired but not regenerated?"

"Exactly. Contrary to," he trailed, "let's say a daughter of Helen and me."

"Like that would happen…" Henry snorted. Nikola pretended he just didn't listen to him.

"A combination of Helen's and my DNA would result in a variance different from the mix of Helen and John."

"Dude! Mental images!"

"Keep your perverted mind out of the gutter, and everything will be fine, wolf-boy." He rolled his eyes. "We theorized Helen's skills were retroactive, since the few scars she had disappeared out of her body. And I didn't have scars or injuries, but the theory remains since the ones I acquired after are never long lasting. Therefore, a combination of those should result in a child who's capable of healing in a way that will return to the previous unblemished status of her bones or skin or muscles…."

"Hum, interesting."

"Yeah, shame you will never get to mix your DNA with the Doc," Henry added.

"Speaking of which, she should be soon. It's been half an hour since I left her in the room."

"I'm going to check on her," Sam added and waved them as she walked out wondering how was possible that so many years and so many aliens with higher tech hadn't figured she was different than the rest of SG-1. She nodded at the guard outside of her mother's room.

"Anything to report?"

"No, ma'am. The woman and the male are both inside the room. No one entered or left since Doctor Frasier, and you left the room."

Sam nodded again and knocked the door and waited. As it was difficult to hear any movement from inside, she knocked again. This time, after a few seconds, the door opened an inch.

"Yes?" it was Will.

"Is she awake yet?" Sam asked.

"No, but she should be up any moment now. Come on in, Major." Will grinned opening the door a bit wider to allow her to enter. Sam entered slowly, and her eyes wandered towards the bed as Will closed the door behind her. "You want to know how is she."

"Yes."

"Well, considering the facts she will be waking up soon, but she won't be fully recovered of Ashley's blows until tomorrow morning or later. But when she wakes up, she won't be feeling the secondary effects of the sedatives, and her repairing should be pretty advanced."

"Is it true? Could've she died?" She asked in a whisper embracing herself.

"Yes…" it was Helen's voice, almost an octave lower. She sat on the bed and rubbed her face. "I hate sedatives. I must be looking horrible," she added before disappearing behind the bathroom door for a second. When she came out her hair, and makeup were fixed, even if her clothes still looked a bit crumpled which made Will raise an eyebrow. "Oh well, this will work for now. I'll change later; you are here for a talk, am I correct?" She asked looking at Sam.

"I can ask the guards to escort you somewhere, Will. If that makes you feel more comfortable," Sam offered.

"You want me out of here? Don't worry I won't be mad if you do."

"Not really, it doesn't bother me."

Helen looked around the room and sat on the bed, her legs curled in front of her. Then she patted her side and Sam walked towards her. Will took the hint and took a seat on the couch available on the other end and grabbed a book allowing them as much privacy as the same room could provide.

"Have you ever been under the effects of sedatives? I won't be surprised due to your career choice."

"Yeah, I've been." Sam sighed.

"Then you know the side effects."

"They never lasted long…" The major trailed.

"Of course, regular sedatives won't. Taking all into consideration what your friend gave to me was mild. Even if she claimed it was the same concentration she used for Teal'c, I need at least double of that to be out for more than a couple hours."

"But you said it could've killed you." Sam squinted.

"No, I didn't lie, if that's what you are thinking. The 'could've killed me' doesn't have to do with the sedatives per se… But with the way and the moment. You'll see, if she by any chance had chosen to inject that, I would be able to point the side effects and either allow it to take place or fight for it until it's gone. It wouldn't have taken more than ten minutes. Or half an hour, if I was starving."

"I'm not sure I'm following."

"The fundamental issue, Samantha, is that I was eating things in particular order to make absorption of nutrients easier and thus, helping my healing skills to get the correct combination of materials faster. And she placed it, my guess was in the tea, and it was processed as part of the things I was eating. Therefore, parts of it are used to repair and fix. Even if it wasn't what I needed."

"What does that mean?"

"It means she healed herself wrong, Sam." Will provided from the other side of the room. "She needs to heal herself again, completely."

"But then why you said half an hour to forty-five minutes?"

"That's the time I need to get rid of the remains of the drugs. The process of healing will take longer and will be slower," Helen explained, "It's confusing, I know."

"Tesla said that Ashley's wounds would be good as none existent by tomorrow morning."

"Yes, mine will take a little longer."

"Why?"

"Did he happen to mention the dead sleep?"

"Yes."

"Well, Ashley has entered it. She lost consciousness, and she will wake up when her body finishes with recovery and starts the regeneration process. And she will be in control of herself during that time and hopefully longer. However, I didn't enter one, my sleep was an effect of the remains of the sedatives, and not due to repair. Therefore, the whole time I was asleep was used to get rid of the remains but not to heal."

"And what would have happened if you didn't notice you were drugged?"

"Well, I would have fallen asleep due to the drug and probably wouldn't wake up."

"But that means you could die every time you went under sedatives, right?"

"No. Sedatives used to knock me out will knock me if I allow it. However, this was also used for repair my body. And once rebuilding starts, unless forcefully stopped, it doesn't finish until everything gets back to point zero. Part of the material would have ended in weak areas…"

"Let me make this simple," Will intervened from his spot, Sam nodded. "What she is trying to say is that once the healing starts their whole-body regenerates it's not only the injured part. Therefore, her heart would've stopped." Sam gasped, "as result of using it as a source for healing her heart would be sedated internally and would've stopped pumping blood to her brain and body…" Will added in a low voice. "She would've died, and no gastric lavage could've saved her."

"Because it was already absorbed." She finished for him, and both Helen and Will nodded. "and if it started? Then how you stopped it from happening?"

"I told you about how we can control what happens due to our time with the Goa'uld." Sam nodded, "the same way, I could recall what was left unprocessed. And allow it to take effect."

"That's why it was important she figured on time before the process finished and the whole absorption of the drug occurred."

"I see." Sam clenched her jaw.

"What's wrong?" Helen asked, and looked at Will who nodded again and tried to focus on reading.

"I don't understand why Janet did it? If I were you, I would want her far away from here, and probably ask for her license to be taken."

"Why would I do such thing?" Magnus asked frowning.

"She almost killed you."

"Almost being the operative word," Helen grinned. "I can't blame her for doing something I would've done in her place, Samantha. I know it doesn't look right from where you are standing, yet I understand her actions."

"You do?"

"Yes, she wants to know, and moreover she is trying to protect you. Her military training is pointing to distrust, and right now, I am the enemy. And I guess she's feeling a little left out and a lot of concern by the way you talk and trust us."

"I'm not asking them to trust you but me, they should have at least a little confidence in me."

"Alas trust comes from both ways, shouldn't you trust that your friend was doing it for the right reasons?" Helen questioned placing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I guess."

"If it makes you feel better she was doing it for the correct reasons; I know that much."

"How can you tell? The only thing she's been doing is attacking you since she first met you and that's not encouraging."

"I don't see any other possibility. I've read her file, and everything Doctor Frasier has done was pushing her limits to make everything in within her reach to save people, she wouldn't try and kill me just because she's not very fond of me."

"I know that."

"Then, you should take a breath and let it go. Everything has at least two sides, and at this moment you are one, and she is another side. The best advice I can give you is to try and see from where she's standing." Helen told her and Sam chewed her lower lip. "Don't let it come between your friendship."

"Why?"

"Friendships are important, Samantha. They remind us that there are people out there who love us and care for us no matter how poorly you act. Take Nikola and me; we've known each other for over a century if I would let his desires to run the world or his attempts at killing me in the way… I would've lost thousands of moments I cherish. Granted, he has also forgiven me for my many attempts on killing him." Will cleared his throat. "What is it, William?"

"Are you sure that's your best example of friendship, dear?" He added amused.

"No, but is the one which fits the most. Although in your case, Doctor Frasier was always trying to save you, and you are always protecting her when she's out there, while Nikola and I were actively trying to kill each other." She finished amused, but then Magnus observed Sam, and noticed she wasn't convinced.

"Trust me; her actions have nothing to do with the disgust she had with me for helping Teal'c which was based on her bruised ego. No, for this one consider it using the same base she would: I'm nothing more than a pretentious stranger with extremely high ideas of who I am who won't readily disclose information and to aggravate it, just had a fight with her daughter which landed her unconscious in the Doctor's infirmary. Also, I seem to be bewitching you with tech and who knows what else."

"Yes, I can see that. But she drugged you and almost killed you."

"Why does it bother you? You've known me for days…"

"That's exactly what she said," Sam muttered.

"Then? What's the answer? I'm pretty sure it will shed some light on why you are reacting in this manner." Helen's eyes were warm and motherly, and Sam looked at them and sighed. "You don't need to answer that one out loud."

"She almost killed you, and I'm just getting to know you," Sam muttered anyway.

"I'm difficult to kill, you can trust me on that one." Helen grinned.

"Yes, but she almost managed."

"Don't add sentiments to it, dear. Think of me as a stranger."

"But you aren't! You are my mother! The one I'm just getting to know."

"Yes, but Doctor Frasier doesn't know that. Do you think she would do it if she knew?"

"No, of course, no."

"Then? Taking the fact that I'm your mother, can you understand her reasoning?"

"I guess so," Sam added.

"Then that's all you need." Sam looked up, and Magnus could see a bit of disappointment in her eyes before she lowered them again. She smiled and raised her daughter's face with a hand. "Listen to me; I'm not telling you I don't feel incredibly grateful and flattered by cause of your reactions, darling. That would be an outright lie, knowing that you care for my well-being points me that you care for me and it gives me hope that someday you will love me, as I do."

"I feel a bit childish." Sam added, "but… Will you hug me, please?" Helen opened her arms and Sam flew to her.

"You can be childish whenever you want," she whispered to her, "even if saying this makes me feel egotistical it's the truth sharing moments with you makes me feel rapturous."

"Rapturous?" Sam snorted.

"Excuse me for having the luxury of being raised at a time when such words were still common coin, and the air was considered under necessary to live," Helen grinned, "shall I say I feel overjoyed? Or blissful will do?"

"Very happy could've worked. You think I should tell Janet you are my bio-mom?"

"I believe that you must tell her, yes. Nevertheless, I also believe that you should do it when you are ready to do it and not before that. And not as a result of this."

"Thank you," she trailed looking at Helen's eyes before adding, "mom." Helen bit her lower lip trying to contain the tears of happiness after hearing her last words and nodded once. Both stomachs found that moment as the right one to growl making them blush. "So, dinner?"


	25. Chapter 25

Whew! I must confess I'm glad to know you just find them a little OOC. Truth to be told I find them a lot OOC. Oh, well. Hopefully, it is not so bad that you stop reading it.

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Twenty-five**

"What's the plan, Janet?" Daniel asked as his friend waited on line. She opened her mouth to answer him, but the line got connected.

"Francis? I need to ask you some questions?" She said to the phone. "I've found someone who claims you were a student of one Doctor Magnus? Were you? Do you mind if I put you on speaker?"

"So?" Jack asked as Janet played with the phone.

"Francis, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Doctor Daniel Jackson are also listening to this," Janet warned the other scientist.

"SGC members, I presume?"

"Yes," Janet confirmed.

"Sure Janet, if that helps with whatever is going on there," Francis trailed. "I have no issues with them listening."

"Colonel, Daniel, before I placed him on speaker Doctor Young confirmed to me that he was a student of Doctor Magnus while he was starting and training as Xenobiologist. Is that correct, Francis?"

"Yes, a remarkable woman. Among other things, Doctor Helen Magnus was credited as the best Xenobiologist in the world and being chosen to be her student was a dream come true. It came unexpected, although she had a fame of being quite eclectic on her choices which never were without a thought and thorough understanding of the situation."

"He wasn't lying," Daniel muttered

"No. I guess he wasn't." Jack admitted, letting himself fall on Daniel's chair.

"He? Excuse me Janet, but what's going on? What's the sudden interest on my mentor?"

"Nothing wrong Francis, I'm just fact checking. So, are you still in contact with Doctor Magnus?"

"Oh! You don't know? Of course, you wouldn't. It would be a pleasure to be still able to contact her, Janet. Alas, there's a little matter which renders it impossible." Young trailed again.

"What's that?"

"You would have liked her Janet. She used strange words, and her accent was alluring to men and women alike. She was kind and smart, she cared for us, and she taught us so much. I still can't believe she's gone."

"Gone? Like she went back to wherever her accent was?" Jack asked

"London? No, but I wish she had." He sighed, "she loved her homeland but when asked she would say she loved her home more. Who wouldn't? It was a country house in the middle of the city."

"Then?"

"There was an accident around two years ago, I believe. Her home blew up from the inside."

"And she was in there," Janet affirmed since they had found she was dead before.

"Yes. I don't know much about it. All I know is that day we lost a remarkable woman, and the world lost an incredible asset. One of the brightest minds I had the pleasure to meet. I can give you the phone of her last protégé; he was very close to her. He oversaw the transport of her remains and her burying, and most of her things went to him."

"To him?"

"Yes, Doctor Zimmerman. I don't remember his name, she was training him and her daughter to follow her steps. Ashley was more impulsive and keeping her still was a feat only her mother could achieve."

"I don't get it, she has a daughter and let most of her things to his protégé? Were they in some relationship?" Janet inquired.

"Well, for what I've known of the Doctor's relationships she might as well have one with Zimmerman. As I said, the woman was very eclectic in her choices. However, at the time it was evident they weren't in one at least if we take the sexual tension as something to go by. I mean, we used to joke that the moment they finally touched the Earth would've exploded... But rumor mill aside, we wouldn't ever know, she was very secretive about her things, we only knew what she was willing to share, and her private life was mostly that, absolutely private."

"But leaving things to her protégé over her daughter does point to an intimate relationship," Daniel affirmed.

"I could, yes. However, the fact is: Helen Magnus had a daughter. Ashley left us before Doctor Magnus did, someone entered their home and," he sighed, "Ash jumped to protect her mother. It was shocking news, and it took a deep impact on everyone." Francis commented sadly.

"How do you know that?"

"There aren't that many of us, Xenobiologist I mean, and we all knew her. The news got to us later, after Helen had disappeared on us for a while, we understood she was grieving in private. Anyhow, I found it earlier because I was still in close contact with Doctor White, do you remember her?"

"Yes, I remember Stella." Janet affirmed.

"Well, they got close. If you know what I mean," Daniel cleared his throat, "I guess that means you want specifics. Stella was often invited to private meetings at the Magnus home state, she rarely spoke of what transpired on those, but she looked satisfied on the following day. That's all I can say without making assumptions."

"And you know it was with Doctor Magnus… how?" Jack asked, "a meeting on a home only points to meeting someone in the home. For all, we know she could be visiting Doctor Zimmerman or even Ashley…"

"Yeah, however, Helen Magnus had some old-fashioned traits, including sending handwritten notes to Stella White. Often the date and time, sometimes a particular location, and I mean latitude and longitude, not address. And it always was signed with M. With her handwriting; you don't need a cryptographer, we all wanted to get one of those notes at some point."

"Okay, I get it they probably had a close relationship. Why did you bring this Stella up?" Jack asked.

"Well, one day Stella and I are working on the lab and the phone rings. I take the call, and it's Zimmerman asking to speak with her, she paled and flew the office mid-experiment. Stella would never do that. Next day, she comes by the lab all red-eyed and looking like hell. I asked what happened; I thought she had lost her scholarship or her place in the office, you know? But no, she told me Ashley Magnus had died in a burglary and William! That was the name, he asked her to go and try to help Helen, but the only thing she managed was to get kicked out of the house with a warning of never call her again unless it was for work-related reasons."

"Was that a common way to end her relationships?"

"Kicking people out? Not that I know. To me, it was a very uncharacteristically of her; I can't imagine what mourning a child can do to one who was as a devoted mother as she was. And it took me a while to accept the fact that Ash was gone. She was a brilliant woman even if she was more a fighter than a thinker."

"What else can you tell me about them?" Janet asked softly.

"Well, this is awkward. I was trying to call Doctor Zimmerman, but his phone is disconnected. Let me see if I can find… Oh God!"

"Francis?"

"I was searching on the web the news from the explosion… and you know, news about Doctor Zimmerman's whereabouts."

"Yes?"

"He's dead. He died in a car accident. Burnt to crisps! You should probably call the old city police department, Janet. They might be able to give you more information, the officer who appears in the news is called Joe Kavanaugh. I will send you the newspapers cuts from all the incidents."

"Thanks, that will be helpful. One more question, Francis. If you saw Helen Magnus again, would you recognize her?"

"Of course, and she would remember me before I walk in."

"Then, I need you to come to Colorado and be here as soon as you can, I won't say much, but we believe we have an impersonator."

"Oh, I see. At the SGC?"

"Yes. There's no need to remind you this is top secret, right?"

"As always."

"Then thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

"Okay... that's weird. If she exploded and he was burned in a car accident, and Ashley was killed how we have all of them here?"

"Well, the good thing is that if he knew them all. He will be able to tell us if all of them are who they say they are." Jack concluded.

"Should I try to find out about this Agent?" Daniel asked

"Sure, call us if you find him, space monkey."

"You know this one would be one of those things Sam does, right?"

"Yes, Daniel… But who knows what's going on with her right now. She doesn't talk to me."

"She's not talking to me either." Daniel and Janet added at once.

"Then all we can do is prove her they are not who they say and we should get her back to our side. I guess with all of them dead should be relatively easy."

"But what if they faked their deaths?"

"We won't know that until we find the Police Officer and the FBI agent."

"If you give me my seat I might be able to start on it…" Daniel pointed, Jack rolled his eyes but stood. "Okay, Old City PD…," he wrote in the search engine and came up with a series of phone numbers. "Thank goodness there's only one city called like that. Should I call or you want to do the honors, Jack?"

"You do it; you are more a people person." Jack grimaced.

"Mkay," he grabbed the phone and started to dial. "Hello, I'm searching for officer… Kavanaugh? Sure! She put me on hold, to check if he's at the station or out. Ok, cool! Thank you. Officer Kavanaugh? Yes, my name is Daniel Jackson, do you mind if I put you on speaker?"

"What's going on?" Joe's voice sounded clear in the small office.

"Officer Kavanaugh, as I was saying I'm Doctor Jackson, I'm here with Colonel Jack O'Neill and Doctor Janet Frasier."

"Okay… Two doctors and a military man. That's not weird at all, and it's Detective, not Officer. Why were you looking for me?" Joe asked. Jack cleared his throat.

"We recently received information about an explosion and a car accident in your district. Can you offer us some insight, Detective?"

"I would if you can be more specific. Old City thrives in those, especially without the Magnus' family around. I miss those times," he sighed.

"They controlled the mob?" Janet asked surprised.

"Dear God, no. They knew a lot of people, and people behaved better with them around, even the mob. You could be sure that if the crime was mob-related, it was someone guilty as sin. The mafia even when Old city one was considered one of the toughest, didn't shed an innocent life at that time. So, your case?"

"The explosion would be the one of the Magnus family home and the car accident..."

"Doctor Zimmerman's, right?" Joe finished before Daniel could.

"How would you know?"

"Look, Will wasn't exactly my friend, but I knew the man. We worked together, and yes, he was a bit freaky, a weirdo through and through. Zimmerman was known because always had a taste for the most unexpected angles on the most strange cases, and I learned to respect the man behind the boyish look. He wasn't one who would recklessly drive himself against a bridge. All I know he was FBI's wonder boy and then, he joined us for a few months. I still have no idea how he ended here, and then he left the Police because he got a better offer from the Magnus family, I don't know what the hell he did in there, but it left him well positioned. And then, a year after he crashes?"

"That's why you took the case?" Janet inquired.

"No, I was assigned to it because I was on duty that day, knowing it was Zimmerman came later. One of our Coroners identified the remains around when the FBI took over; the agent name was Jake Polanski. I learned later that he knew Zimmerman from his days at the bureau."

"Is there any place where this man hadn't worked?" Janet muttered to herself.

"Yes, plenty. The Agency was one of those, they made a move to get him, but he rejected them. Then he joined Old City PD before he acceded to the Magnus investigation thing."

"You believe it was a homicide?" Daniel inquired.

"No, it was an accident. I just can't understand what would drive someone like him to… Well, maybe he was closer to the family that he let out. We met a few times during his time at the mansion, but he never hinted anything. Although he called me when the heiress was killed." Kavanaugh explained.

"The heiress?"

"Yeah, Ashley Magnus, she was a hottie. I saw her once or twice from afar. For what we found when they granted us access to the home state was that she was very well trained, military combat and several martial arts, and she had a couple of degrees, all of that we found saved on an old trunk she had in her huge bedroom. She also had a love for bikes if the ones in their garage under her name were the thing to go by." He added.

"What happened to her?"

"When we saw Doctor Magnus, she claimed it was just a regular robbery gone wrong. However, what we found looked more like someone was searching something in there. Doctor Magnus herself did the autopsy process, and they granted us access to pictures of the wound, a single bullet straight to her heart. Will and the Doctor claimed that the assailants were after her and when they found the Older Magnus in her office, Ashley Magnus jumped to push her out of the way getting the shot herself. We didn't find traces of powder in any one from the manor, although several bullet holes and broken glasses were found."

"I don't get it if they could forego all the investigations, why calling you?" Janet asked.

"I'll never understand rich people thought process. My guess is they wanted to inform her tragedy to all those who knew them, and it was faster with an obituary and a short piece in the newspaper. Word on the streets was that the girl was the family negotiator and that a well knows the rule, you don't mess with the negotiators. So it could've been a warning for those who got her. Anyhow, that's what happened with the heiress. Then roughly three or four years later, the mansion exploded." He whistled, "the fire department saw the level of the fire, and they decided it was one of those in which the best solution is let it burn. "

"What else?"

"I don't know; we were there as first responders along with the fire brigades. For the size of it, I would say it was prepared. We couldn't do much, and when we could, the FBI took over. Zimmerman arrived at the place an hour after the fire started along with this other FBI agent… Corrigan, and he told me his boss was inside. Then, another Agent came over and took control."

"Do you know the name?"

"Yeah, let me find it for you… Jake Polanski, he was also the one who took over Will's accident. Apparently, they knew each other. Or at least, I overheard them say that."

"Well, thank you."

"Yeah, no prob. Oh, if I were you I would just call the local FBI office."

"Why?" Joe snorted at that question

"Well, no one who ends up in Old City leaves old city. I gotta go, good luck finding the guy."

"So, I guess now I track Agent Jake Polanski?" Daniel sighed scrubbing his face tiredly.

"You know it," Jack added palming his friend's shoulders. He looked on the engine for the phone number of the Old City, "let's see if we are still lucky." He added once he found the number. "Hi, I'm looking for Agent Polanksi? Do you know where I might locate him? Is he still there? Excellent… Doctor Jackson."

"Is he?" Daniel nodded.

"Hi, Agent Polanski? If you agree, may I put this call on speaker? Agent Polanski, I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson, Colonel O'Neill and Doctor Frasier are also listening."

"What can I do for you?"

"Wow, you don't find strange that combination?" Janet asked based on the police reaction.

"I've lived strangest things."

"We are calling because Detective Kavanaugh gave us your name," Daniel added exchanging glances with Jack and Janet.

"William Zimmerman or Helen Magnus?" He asked.

"What?"

"Those are the names of the deceased in the cases I took over from Detective Kavanaugh, he also provided me with the record he had about Ashley Magnus' death that way the Bureau could investigate if everything had the same origin," Agent Polanski explained tiredly.

"We call for both cases."

"It's been a while since the last time someone called for it. Those first months, my phone wouldn't stop ringing. The crime scene investigators pointed to a structural damage due to the age of the construction and concluded it came from under it, expanding through the gas conduits. However, I took another team there, and they agree the only way they could think of such extension was by strategically placed charges of C-4. Although there were never traces."

"No traces?"

"No, no accelerant of anything which could point to being premeditated. Nothing is known to us at least, and that's why we must believe the first analysis team. Both concluded the explosion originated at one point and it developed towards all the structure. If it were by gas pipes or by c-4, we would never know for sure."

"Any victims?"

"Well for what we know only a few people came and went there but, according to Henry Foss, only Doctor Helen Magnus and he were living at the mansion during that week. Other guests of the manor included Doctor William Zimmerman who lived there for around four years. Kate Freelander, she was with them for three years. Erica Myers also visited the estate constantly. More than her, Agent Abby Corrigan. Only Doctor Magnus wasn't recounted for the day the explosion happened." He sighed, "We only found piles of ashes. However, we found the DNA remains of five notorious criminals and the Doctor's."

"You are sure she died in there?"

"I am, that was one of the questions people keep calling me over. The bodies were basically cremated inside the fire. We also found a trace of gold, which it was explained as a jewel Doctor Magnus had with her always. A golden locket which if she wasn't wearing it, she had it in her pocket."

"Who provided that information?"

"Doctor William Zimmerman. He worked for her until he was reactivated to work under this other group SCIU. "

"SCIU?"

"Specified Counter Insurgency Unit, is a division of Homeland Security, it's all I know about it," he explained mechanically. "Now for what happened that night, we are aware through the surveillance detail in the house that Helen Magnus opened the gate and checked someone who was dropped in front of it, a gang of five people appeared, and she shot at them. We have no idea what happened inside, what we know is that a convoy was directed to the mansion south gate, when the whole thing collapsed. Two people ran out of the land, both male, we never found who one of them was."

"Do you know who was in the convoy?"

"No, that's also unknown. The detail was too far away to identify them. Agents Corrigan and Zimmerman reached the scene an hour after the explosion. When told two males left the premises he said that by the descriptions and size, they should be the tech guys. Henry Foss presented himself next day to declare, he for sure was one of the guys, but he didn't saw who left with him, he said it was an attack against Doctor Magnus, which makes sense, the price over her head had escalated exponentially over the course of that year. "

"Can the same be said for Doctor Zimmerman's head?"

"Yeah, it could have. But the moment Zimmerman moved out of the home state and to SCIU his head value was zero. There was no interest even if he left the boat sort to speak."

"So, he changes jobs, cleans his name and then he inherits their fortune, sounds like a motive to me," Jack commented.

"Look, I knew Zimmerman; he was a weird man. He loved to find the odd exit to the most bizarre cases, yet he saved my ass more times than I'm willing to let anyone know. And I knew him well enough to know he was devastated by the explosion of the Magnus state; it wasn't only his work, it was his house for the last four years. Moreover, it was a place where he felt like home. He didn't know he was the heir of that money. He got 20% of the Magnus family money which it's two steps behind the guy from Microsoft only less known."

"That's a lot of money."

"Yeah, he quit the SCIU as soon as they left him, and considering they were seen as the responsible of the explosion, it wasn't hard for them to accept his resignation. He moved in with his girlfriend of that time and later they became engaged. Even if, he and Agent Corrigan were seen fighting most of the time."

"Agent Corrigan?"

"His fiancé, Abby Corrigan. She was the one who identified Will remains, and she was devastated. She blamed the damned Helen Magnus and said something about competing with a ghost. Anyhow, he wasn't okay, and he was in an awkward position."

"How come?"

"Well, if I was called that much, I can't imagine how many calls the guy had. Added to it, he knew he was under surveillance. There was a point in which there were doubts about Helen Magnus' death, and we all knew that if she were going to contact someone, it would be him. But a long time happened, calls stopped coming, surveillance was considered unnecessary, it was evident that it was too long for not contacting him. After setting a small trust fund for Foss, he kept in touch with him and his wife, but it was sporadic, to say the least, and they only exchanged pleasantries and talked about the old times. Then, a few weeks after we removed the surveillance, paper trail shows that he made arrangements for the car to be transported to the Old City."

"And he lost control while driving it."

"We found a suicide note, but we never disclosed it. We wanted to keep what was left of his reputation, you know? Corrigan and I, we put our careers at stake to manage that. Well, no one ever cared, no one came looking for him. As for the investigation, the car arrived two days after he asked for it, and he filled it up with aviation gas. And Will drove it around until he crushed it against the side of the Old Bridge. The tire marks we found showed that he probably tried to avoid the crash, yet he failed. There was not much left of him."

"What did his note say?"

"He couldn't forgive himself for handing Magnus to SCIU, and he couldn't accept he wasn't there to protect her when the Insurgents entered the house. He asked for Corrigan's forgiveness and told her that it wasn't her fault and that she was right. I asked Abby what Will meant in his note when we crossed path after, and she told me they fought a lot because she was sure he was in love with Doctor Magnus and never got a chance to say it to her. Oh well, that's just side sappy history."

"Okay, then there are no doubts they are both gone?"

"Yeah, it's funny. In the end, Zimmerman finished in the same condition Doctor Magnus did on a big explosion and burned to dust, talk about romantic, right?" he huffed, "listen, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, that was all we needed to know."

"Excellent, then I should go. Bye."

"Bye."

 **0759**

 **Briefing Room**

"We can prove she's not who she says she is, and neither is him or her." Jack started with a grin preceding the pleasantries.

"Good morning to you too, Colonel and, oh, please do." Helen smiled stopping the reactions of her family and friends.

"That's what I'm intending if you open the folders Janet and Daniel are giving away we can start." He added clasping his hands together. Sam looked at him as if he had grown a second head overnight but opened her folder anyway with a frown.

"Janet, can you do the honors?"

"Sure, Colonel. Let's start with my last patient: Ashley Magnus, the daughter and only heir of the Magnus fortune passed away on an unfortunate turn of events when a group of robbers entered the family home state. The officer in charge, Joe Kavanaugh confirmed Doctor Magnus herself chose to perform the autopsy of her daughter accompanied by Doctor Will Zimmerman. After that, the remains of the young heiress were cremated, and a private mass was celebrated to honor her life. No comments came from the family or their advisors." Helen clenched her jaw. "Should I continue?" Janet smirked noticing that the group reaction was the same: tightly clenched jaws.

"Please do, Doc."

"Then, three years later, we found this one. It's pretty interesting if I must say so myself: Doctor Helen Magnus house exploded and was burned to ashes, no part of the old home state was left standing. Doctor Helen Magnus was proclaimed death when ashes of her remains along with melted gold which was accounted as a necklace she never took out of her, were found at the scene and DNA confirmed it belonged to her. Doctor William Zimmerman, the heir to 20% of her fortune, refused to make comments. The wealth of the Magnus family was divided between Doctor Zimmerman, their many corporations, and her charities. Doctor Helen Magnus remains will be buried on a family campground in London, from where she originates and where she will now rest beside her daughter."

"Ah, yes," Helen added it was easier to hear her fake demise than the false ending they had created for Ashley when she had died. The truth behind her daughter's death and current status always weighing heavily on her heart and mind.

"And last but not least… The Magnus Miss-fortune: Another tragedy struck the Magnus fortune. Over a year after the tragic success that put an end to decades of work from the known Magnus family, the heir of the Magnus family fortune was found incinerated on his car after crashing it on the old bridge. The investigators agreed he lost control of the vehicle while speeding. The car was fueled by aviator's gas which provoked the quick fire. The place in which it occurred made the fire unknown until a homeless man found the remains the next day." Janet finished with a grin.

"Did you find Wolfgang's accident too? Or three of us is just enough?" Nikola asked, "I mean, I could bring mine out too, if I recall it correctly, I died at age 86, alone, in my room of the Hotel New Yorker room 3327 33rd floor, a maid found me dead and I was taken to Frank Campbell funeral home. Still doesn't say anything about us not being, well, us," he clapped his hands together.

"No, I guess we got something even better. We got someone who knows you all, or rather, knew you all."

"Then, by all means, disprove us," Nikola added, and Helen frowned thinking who they might found that could know them. Then, she smiled widely and stood up.

"Francis Young. A long time passed since the last time I saw you," she said before he entered.

"Doctor Magnus? How is this possible?" His eyes widened, looking at the woman who was his mentor and he thought dead.

"There are things more complicated to explain," Helen added with a sad smile before pointing him towards her crew, "I hope you still remember them…and her," she added little enough for him to hear.

"Doctor Zimmerman, Mister Foss, Doctor Baumschlanger?" he stopped dead in his tracks then.

"Francis?"

"Ash…"

"Your Caribbean alter-ego?" Helen asked loudly to Tesla, and he grinned shrugging as an answer.

"Well, I couldn't tell him I was me and hope he didn't mention it to you, could I?" Nikola blinked coquettishly.

"Oh hush."

"When Janet told me she might have an impersonator for you, I couldn't believe it Doctor Magnus, and I couldn't hope either. Rumors of your death being fake were many, I even called the police back then."

"Well, it was well planned and perfectly executed," Helen grinned and the similar glares she received from Tesla and Henry made her correct herself, "well, almost perfectly executed. I could've gone better without the injuries. Nothing that a good rest couldn't cure."

"The Detective said it looked like it was a prepared explosion, I guess he's right?" Daniel asked.

"The Detective?" Will asked.

"Yes, Detective Kavanaugh."

"Oh, Lord." Helen sighed.

"No, no, no, no, no…"

"You talked with him? Yesterday? Around 23:45 your time?" Magnus asked quickly.

"You are stalking us! How is that possible?"

"No," Sam frowned, "at 23:45 Doctors Magnus and Zimmerman were with me in the cafeteria. Five minutes later we got the call from the infirmary. Henry and Nikola were both under surveillance from our guys." Helen frowned again. "They were all far away from technology to be able to stalk us," Carter explained.

"Did you make another call? To the Bureau, perhaps? Agent Corrigan?" Will hoped.

"It was at 1:20 am, our time." Henry provided.

"We… called someone yes."

"Oh, hell… you called Polanski." The whole Sanctuary crew added dismayed.

"Y..yes?" Daniel answered.

"Henry, call Erika. Get a safe passage and figure out how long we have."

"I'm on it boss." He said taking his cell phone and laptop out.

"Nikola…" she trailed, but her friend only nodded and walked closer to the tech. "General, we need the blueprints of this facility. You can provide us a copy, or I can hack into your system and get them myself."

"There's no way to hack into our system."

"The Pentagon must have a copy, and they never figured my back door." Henry shrugged.

"Damnit!" Nikola growled. "We don't have time for the back door, Helen." He finished turning the laptop around where a countdown of fifty minutes appeared. "And they are already at the limits of the compound."

"General Hammond, you need to hide us, somewhere. There's not enough time for us to get out of here without being noticed."

"I can't authorize any of you to gate travel, Doctor Magnus. Not even when I have no the slightest clue of why are you suggesting such a thing." Hammond added flabbergasted

"Then, if you cannot do it, call the President and let me talk to him. Or I will force my way into your office and do it myself, and trust me you don't want that." Hammond nodded and walked towards his office, all the present following them.

"Mister President, I have Doctor Magnus for you." He said and then, surprised he gave Helen the phone.

"Henry, your best team just screwed it up. SCIU was activated early this morning when some of them decided to investigate us, and called both old city PD and FBI. Now, options: I can hijack SGC and force my hand to a gate travel, or you can politely order them to do so. Well, I'm not glad the tables have turned Henry, but you know that if I'm no longer here, your secret can be out at any time and no, that's not a threat, is only for you to remember those who care about you and who you care for…." She added and smiled. "Yes, I could, however you know them and they are already about to knock the doors, we can persuade them in a different way alas that can bring us to the step which made you choose your position before… I knew you would see it my way! I owe you a visit and maybe a Chateau Laffite, nothing newer than the fifties. Yes, you know that's not an issue. Thank you, Henry. General," she finished giving him the phone back.

"Hammond. Yes, sir." He added with a frown before hanging the phone. "SG-1 take the guest and gear them and yourselves up. Include Doctor Young on this. Doctor Frasier, get all the medical information on them and hide it. As from now all, that happened in the last few days is highly classified. I will make sure to let everyone else know."

"General Hammond, you must verify your compound limits and close all the emergency exits and regular entrances. SCIU will find a way in even if they don't have the security level to be here," Helen affirmed.

"How do you know?"

"Because they are part of the reason why all of us are dead in those articles they've found."


	26. Chapter 26

Ok, this took forever to be written and still feels like a filling chapter, which probably is. Hopefully next one will be better.

Enjoy.

M.

 **Chapter Twenty-six**

For some reason, Jack is late, which is weird, he's never late. The guys are looking at me as if I know what the hell is going on, which I don't. Jack hasn't spoken to me since the day I asked him to accept the treatment. That's something I knew he would. Jack needs the time to process what I've asked, once again, to do against his will… And the fact that he had agreed to it.

I look around, and Helen lips curve upwards slightly, a concealed smile and then, a wink. Probably she noticed no one watching our exchange, she nods towards her team with a smile and I must admit they look funny. All dressed up in BDU's they look out of their comfort zone, the baggy clothes on my father makes him look even more scrawny than he is, super strength aside. Will's hair sticks out everywhere although he and Henry almost fit decently on the uniforms, is both of their postures what tells all about being highly uncomfortable in them, my guess is the too fitted shirt under the jacket.

Ashley and I exchange a knowing grin before I look at her. She could pass as a soldier without issues; she feels comfortable in the uniform, and it is easily noticeable. Finally, there's my mother, and there's no denying on how alike we look when a brunette version of myself stares me back. I can tell she's done this mission thing enough times to feel at ease in whatever clothes she happens to wear, and definitively she's the live version of calmness.

Then, I turn around to watch for the control room, I half expect General Hammond question me about Jack's whereabouts, but he doesn't. Jack is standing right next to him, and they are talking, final orders I believe. Probably a 'find whatever you can about them.' And truth to be told, I'm intrigued too by the current events. The difference is that I know if I ask, Helen will explain it to me, or even Nikola.

The ring starts to move, and it makes us all jump for it was unexpected to all. Usually, the connection wouldn't start until we are all in here and General Hammond sends us. Weird, although, nothing in the last weeks can be defined as normal.

I look around, and I see the used faces of Daniel and Teal'c and the not surprised faces of my parents, followed by the look of awe in my sister. The amazement in Henry's which I must say is similar to what I felt the first time I saw this, and then the utter terror and acceptance mix on Will's face. Oh, I know that look, it's the same look Jack gave to me when I asked for things he didn't want to do, but he did. Things you only would do for someone you love.

Jack clears his throat behind me, and I turn around to scrutinize those brown eyes of him, which as usual, tell me nothing about the situation at hand. And everything about us.

"They were right," he whispers after a while when the ring is turning to engage the last chevron. "There's someone at the gate." Who? I want to ask but the wormhole engages and the moment is lost.

"I will contact you when you can return. SG-1 you have a go. Godspeed," General Hammond says before turning around and disappearing out of our line of sight. Jack nods and Teal'c moves Doctor Young follows him as it was previously stipulated.

Daniel grins and Ashley and Henry nod but when the time to cross come, Henry, stays behind. My mother shook her head amused and walks towards him. And since she was my sole responsibility I walk towards them.

"Henry, there's no time to analyze this," she says lovingly, and Henry nods, I can see he is somewhat frightened with the whole situation.

"I've never been disarmed and armed again by a machine," he huffs.

"Do you trust me?" She asks him, and he nods. "Then, take this as a stroll with me," she grins and extends his hand. He takes it and then, they cross. I follow.

P3X-O72 is warm and green and purple, and the sky is of a bright blue. The breeze is cool but not cold, and I close my eyes to enjoy it after taking a couple of steps out of the way and making sure that my 'charge' is alright.

"I can't believe you do this on a regular basis," Henry says in awe looking around, and I must say, I've been in their garden, and this is not even close to fantastic by comparison.

"It's the fact that he's actually on another planet, not the looks," my mother whispers and I nod. I guess that's what we all feel when we do this, we've been on enough Earth-like worlds that we fail to notice it any longer.

"Not another forest planet!" Well, most of us fail to notice.

"Where are we?" Ashley asks with a grin as she scans the space methodically around us as if she expects something to jump out of the nowhere. I notice Helen does the same; I don't know for sure if it's from experience or training. And it hits me that's probably both.

"P3X-O72, there's an investigation facility in here."

"Wait, the one with Doctor White and Doctor Gordon?" I ask as we start walking.

"Yup, the same. Janet recommended it; she said she spoke with Doctor White a few weeks ago and the work his has been stopped for now."

"That's weird."

"What's weird?" Ashley asked squinting to focus.

"This facility will be our primary investigative force out world. The plan was to bring experts in most areas to live here on yearly periods," Daniel explained, and Ashley rolled her eyes. Apparently, she was waiting for some action, not for a science thing. "For some reason, they stopped it, and that's why we can come here without carrying tents and other supplies."

"What we are yet to know," Jack added with his deep voice, "Is why are we here."

"Oh, poor thing, you got orders, Colonel?" I see my mother turning around with a mischievous smile on her face. Then she winks at me, and I know as sure as we are on another planet, that she is torturing him just for the hell of it. "There are things you need to know, and there are things you ought to know… However, it's my call to explain them to you… And it might not happen in here."

"You will need to talk, Doctor Magnus. It doesn't matter if it is your prerogative or not. We will need some answers." Jack commented, and Helen turned around and pretended she didn't listen. Ashley turned around quickly, and I managed to see the sly grin on her face.

"Are you sure we are on another planet? I mean, my window sill has more plants variety than this."

"Well, if we consider that, to be able to sustain life as we know it, the planet must be oxygen based. The construction of life must be quite similar to what we can see around Earth," Helen provided. "If conditions changed we couldn't visit without the due precaution. However, life could still be sustained and would produce life forms different to the ample variety that we know."

"So, alien planets are boring as the surface of the Earth," she sighed. "does anything cool happen around here, I mean not even the travel was surprisingly different."

"You are telling me that you didn't feel weird after the travel?" Daniel asked in awe.

"No? Should I?" Ashley frowns. And for someone who can deconstruct and construct herself and what and who she holds it bet it wasn't that much of a difference.

"Well, I remember my first trip… It was awful. I felt sick and cold and ended up on my back."

"The cold was the result of the compression the molecules undergo during the millisecond required for reconstitution."

"Cold? For reconstitution, that's preposterous!" Ashley stopped to let me know that.

"Well, after the first travel I added some protocol to improve it, that's why you didn't felt it anymore."

"Still, I'm yet to hear of someone who freezes by transport. Ridiculous." She muttered mostly for our ears only; then she added loudly: "And you felt ill too?"

"Mine was awful, I took a second breakfast, and it kicked me on the wrong way."

"That explains why my coffee is doing all sorts of weird things," Will provided.

"So how come you ended up on your back?"

"I don't know, come to think about there's been a long time since the last time we ended up upside down."

"Ah, I also added protocols for heaven-ground corrections." I grin

"That explains it… Oh, we are close," Daniel pointed. The facility wasn't the most beautiful construction of them all, but it was practical. For what I knew of it, they were planning on using the natural caves of the mountain to create the rooms and labs needed to allure the scientist.

"Oh well, it is hardly Barcelona's Casa Mila or Capri's Malaparte Villa. I loved that house, too bad we lost it." Nikola added

"We?"

"Well, you. But I used it more than you did. Curzio was an ass to take credit and the house. Alas, I love your Villa, it's far more accommodating."

"You love the wine cellar of my villa."

"They can't avoid it, right?" I ask Will who is looking at them with amusement.

"Nope, too many years of knowing each other," he says.

"How many years exactly?" Daniel asks, and I know it's a way to see if he can get more information. And if I notice it, Will's perception probably has hinted it too.

"I don't know for sure, I met Nikola a few years back, and he comes and goes. I only know they are old friends."

"That we are," Helen smiles.

We are about to reach the base of the building when the door opens widely. And a slender brunette comes out, I see both Helen and Will exchange a glance, and Ashley stopped death on her track. Doctor Young rushed towards her.

"Stella? Stella White? It's been ages, I've searched for you and never had a hint of your whereabouts."

"Francis! Yes, you are right. It's been a while," she welcomed the man with a hug. Jack cleared his throat, and then I saw it, the effect of knowing my mother I guess. The Doctor's eyes widened, and she blanched and took a step back.

"What?" She attempted shocking her head. "How?"

"I'm not too sure; I was called to see if I could debunk them as who they said they were and … as you see, it's impossible to do it."

"Doctor White? I'm Doctor Jackson; we've met briefly when you were transported to the Beta site?"

"Yes, I remember you."

"Ah, you've seemed like you've seen a ghost."

"Three of them actually," she sighed. "I know some of you are SG-1 and my take is that the rest if from the private facility?"

"What has been informed to you?" I ask.

"Well, SGC radioed early saying SG-1 plus the crew of a private facility would join us for a few hours to a day, depending on some Earthside situations," she answers me without taking her eyes of Ashley.

"We must come in and find her a chair, she's in shock, and she might pass out soon," Helen adds softly.

"Helen…" she whispers, "how? Why?"

"I take you know each other?" I ask again, and she finally sees me, and she gasps.

"Are you?" She starts, and I know what's coming next.

"I'm Major Samantha Carter, SG-1. I think Doctor Magnus is right; you need to sit."

We move quickly; she points us towards the mess hall which is the one room that's both close and big enough to have all of us in. From the corner of my eye I see Will moving, and then a glass of water finds its way to her hands.

"Thank you," Helen smiles at him, and he nods. And I wonder what the hell happened. "Stella, it's been a while, how are you?"

"I'm … Fine, I guess. Shocked that's for sure."

"It's a long history, yes."

"It's better to be a good one too. I mean, I went to your funeral, I asked for holidays to be there."

"I'm sorry, I don't remember seeing you there," Will added.

"I went to yours too, Doctor Zimmerman. Now, for Helen's funeral, I went there but stood in the back… I couldn't understand why she would let everything to you; then I remembered you were her protégé, and she was training you to take her place."

"Well, what I last remember from you Stella, is seeing you at home. Then… Well, I was gone and when I returned you weren't there," Ashley sat beside them. I knew we were intruding in this moment; the explanation seemed to be for Doctor White in whatever capacity she was known to at least three people of the Sanctuary team. I couldn't move, I wanted to know.

"You should ask that to your mother, Ashley," Doctor White added clenching her jaw. I looked around, and surprisingly I found that the only one who hadn't a clue of what to hell was going on was I.

"I asked her to leave and never return to Old City. I also asked her to keep the scholarship until she ended it."

"You do know each other," I affirm.

"Yes, quite well too," Magnus adds.

"Doctor Magnus was my mentor, Francis and I were on a scholarship program financed by her family. It was quite the honor to be granted that. The few of us who knew about the Xenobiology field existence knew the most capable and experienced professional in the area was Doctor Magnus, her family has been on the field for ages," Stella finished, then she looked at me. "The resemblance is incredible… my guess is that you are the proof of the theory which says we all have a double out there."

"Nature is quite precise," Francis explained. "There are only so many combinations possible to the miracle we call life that it's bound to occur that the same combination is repeated after a while."

"Yes, it is as precise as it is diverse," my mother accepted. "It's more explainable when the two members are from the same family as the known cousins Tzar Nikolai II and King George V. Although; it still happens between two people who aren't related there are several cases reported over the years. And there's a Canadian photographer called Francois Brunell who is on a quest of finding 200 doppelgangers around the world."

"I wonder how on Earth you get time to find things like that," Ashley muttered.

"I have plenty of time to read, darling. As a close friend used to say: Time is relative, and one only needs to make it happen," My mother commented, and Stella smiled. Will looked at Helen as if she gave something away.

"That's what you said before…"

"Well, it is true. I don't have, however, the honor of being the one who coined those words." Helen smiled, and Stella did it too, for some reason I felt like a bomb was I disarmed, and I wasn't sure why. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, oh. How rude of me," she blushed, "I guess you all know I'm Doctor Stella White by now," we all chuckled and nodded. "I was supposed to introduce you all to the facility."

"We are already in," Nikola mentioned.

"Doctor Baumschlager?" Stella asked, and I saw my mother rolling her eyes. I will ask about this as soon as I can.

"You can call him Nikola, we all do," she told her making Nikola grin. "You were saying something about the facility?"

"Yeah, well. You already know the dining room. I believe the name was mess hall, but dining room sounds easier to remember. Dinner will be served in three hours."

"Dinner?" Daniel asked.

"Yes, it's past midday here. There are several hours of difference, and we can't change our schedules because of you joining us. This time the adjustment will be for you to bear."

"It makes sense," I add, "we are only here for a short time, while they have been here for months and have acquired a schedule."

"Yes, well, let me take you to the rooms," then she frowned. "Oh, there will be an issue there."

"Why?"

"Well, this facility was thought to be home for at least fifty people. However, the government has been having issues with finding the personnel. Therefore, the works in the area of staff were stopped, and the money was redirected to improve the labs," she explained.

"That might be an issue," Daniel pointed.

"It shouldn't be, at least not a big one. We have eight rooms available, all with king-sized beds," she grimaced. "So, some of you will have to share a bed."

"That's not an issue, Stella." Will smiled, "I'm sure we will be able to accommodate ourselves."

"Well, I can fix that one quickly," Ashley said, "Major would you mind sharing? It should be less awkward for us than for the boys."

"No problem," I say, and I notice Doctor White still has doubts and apparently no one is willing to answer her. Weird.

"Just point us to the rooms, Stella. We will accommodate nicely, don't doubt about it," My mother grins, and that does it. Doctor White nods, and we start to move. Doctor White points to places and names corridors as we walk by them giving us an idea of how to return to the dining room and how to go exploring the labs.

Will hangs back, and I frown as his action he nods to show his side, and I walk slower and join him at the end of the group. He has a pink touch on his cheeks, and I frown, he wants to talk to me about something and judging by his current coloring, I'll say it's something mildly uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" I ask as soon as we are far away enough from the group, yet we are still able to watch them walk.

"Nothing really, it's just…" He sighs. "They all seem to know, and you don't appear to know." I frown, "you were the only one who didn't know Stella, and we knew each other. I will say that's something that came out in the conversations they had yesterday and since you weren't with them…"

"Will, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I'm sorry it's just… Not easy way to put this one out there. I know Ashley took it lightly when she learned but she was raised to be accepting. I'm not sure if…"

"Can you just tell me what the hell you are trying to say me? You are making me nervous." I whisper, and I clench my jaw as the group stops, and we have no other choice but join them.

"Well and these are the rooms," Stella announces pointing to the doors near to her, we all stand close to her looking around uncooperatively, "make yourselves comfortable and then come searching for me at the lab. Then we can solve whatever experiment has brought you all on board."

For some reason, we all stand there waiting for her to leave. The second she's out of sight, my newly acquired family moves to opens doors at once. My mother opens one, Ashley opens the one in front of Helen's, and Nikola runs to open the one beside Ashley's.

"Come on in, Major; it's not so bad. The bed is big enough for each of us have a little piece of it," Ashley grins and grabs me from by backpack and closes the door behind us giving me sufficient time to wave to my teammates.

"What the hells is going on?" I ask making Ashley sigh.

"Well, if I was on Stella shoes I was going to think the great Helen Magnus lied to her." A knock on our door stops her, and she opens the door quickly, giving space for our mother and Will to join us.

"I know what you are thinking Ashley, and it isn't possible because I didn't lie to her. Will was the one who placed the call. And I was the one pushing her out of the house."

"Can someone explain things clearly to me?" I ask pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Well, yes. It's relatively straightforward. A little over five years ago, Stella and I maintained a relationship. Supposedly no feelings involved, but for what I witnessed today that wasn't true on her side. Anyhow, I was coarse to her when Ashley died."

"That's why you didn't open the door when she was around!"

"Well, yes. I'm not going to show her purposely that Will and I are together now. It's been 117 years since we broke up for me, but not for her."

"And you believe my team knows you were together?"

"I'm afraid they know. It's something that Francis knew since he was pretty close to Stella back then."

"Yeah… and he saw them at the house," Ashley blushed.

"You and Francis?" I ask amused.

"What can I say?" She grins. "I guess nerdy looking types it's one of my types."

"Okay, I just don't see what's the use of this?"

"Well, Stella and I dated for over a year. Francis and Ashley dated for six months."

"Eight," Ashley added uncomfortably.

"Really?"

"Yeah, mom. Don't make it more awkward than already is…"

"Okay, the thing is," Will trailed, "frequently, during the dating process both parts supposedly learn what they can about the other to verify they are a valid match. One exchanges hopes, dreams, fears… And secrets."

"Wait, I'm not you, and I have not your brain clarity, but are you trying to tell me you suspect my team will try to use those relationships to learn more about you?"

"Yes, and it's not a suspect. We know for sure, just like we are aware one of them will board Henry and me."

"Why?"

"Because… Mom is unreachable. If she doesn't want to talk, they won't make her. Nikola, he blabbers, non-stop. He will drive them mad with un-useful information. Will, he will analyze them, and they know he knows the book. That makes him too prepared for interrogations. And then you have me, your darling Colonel believes I'm a child. He sees me as someone innocent, probably like someone who doesn't know better, which I do. And then, there's Henry, who already has presented himself as the nerdy clumsy guy who can't keep his mouth shut," Ashley finishes with a grin.

"And?" I ask not entirely following her point.

"If you want to know more... who would you reach?"

"Well, if I'm in possession of all the information you just gave me…"

"Which they are," Ash adds and I shook my head.

"Then I would reach for the two Doctors and then Henry and you. But why are you so sure they know?"

"Well, it has to do with the fact we are all in here."

"I don't get it."

"Yesterday, they placed two calls which brought us here."

"How do you know about these allegedly calls?"

"Well-placed security points? We are aware they found one announce that Will had posted for my funeral. The alert shows that it happened first. Then, my guess is they called Francis; I mentioned him and Stella when I talked with your friend Doctor Frasier about her experience in the xenobiology field. Therefore, a call to him seems like the most likely to happen in the times between the alerts."

"Then at 23:45 and 1:20 am respectively, two alarms were raised. One from a call to Old City PD, and the second one for a call to the Old City FBI Office. Our names were mentioned during the conversation even if we don't know what the whole conversation was."

"And these alerts are?"

"The reason why the SCIU was recalled. SCIU only failed one mission, and that mission was to bring me down," Helen adds sadly. "And by asking questions after so long, they have no other choice but reactive them to try and find out if it was just something odd or if I'm really alive which has been their greatest fear since I blew myself and my home." I dropped myself to the bed and scrubbed my face with my hands.

"Okay, so the people back at my base are trying to learn if you are dead or alive to know if they can go back to inactive or to kill you. You dated a woman, and you a nerdy Doctor who happens to be here now. Who probably will be interrogated by my Commander, and there's a chance you and Henry will be submitted to the same fate. Did I miss something?"

"Nope, I don't think so." Ashley grins.

"Why don't you just tell them this? It will be easier for all of us."

"I will, once I know the situation back on Earth is cleared. I can't risk the lives of all of those who had placed their trust on my plan to make their lives easier under the earth. And right now, due to the lack of confidence from Colonel O'Neill, I can't be sure he won't just send us back Earth to be dealt with and done. However, General Hammond will have a set of orders that will make him clear the situation at hand."

"The thing you have on President Hayes."

"Yes."

"And using it makes you different from the other manipulators how?"

"I was not manipulating him; I was merely reminding him that his family is underground with me and by being there, they are safe."

"I beg your pardon?" I ask, and Ashley laughs.

"There's only a few of humans that chose to be President, sis. Most of them are abnormals, the position is crazy and knowing how to deal with the weirdest things is crucial. Why do you think they got the: 'there are aliens out there' so fine?"

"Wait! Hayes is abnormal?" I ask unbelievingly.

"Yes, as Ashley said, most Presidents are or were. The Hayes family reached the Sanctuary when Henry was eight or nine. He and his sister were malnourished, battered and bruised and we took care of them. And we also took care of those of his family that came long after that day."

"For what I know from you, SCIU attempted to bring the Sanctuary down and kill you. Then why, if the President is abnormal, he went and approved SCIU?" I ask.

I don't understand why an abnormal would approve to have his fellow abnormals extinguished? Or why he would ask for the head of their greatest benefactor, and the one known for keeping them under control. It doesn't make sense.

"Easy, he didn't want to die," my mother adds as if it makes all sense in the world. "If he didn't sign it, they would have pointed him as a pro-abnormals, and that wasn't something well seen back then and would kill his career and probably, himself. I talked to him and explained his part on my plan without giving away the complex nature of it. When it happened the first time, I didn't know he would betray me. But I expected it for my plan to work."

"The time travel lapse," of course, if I were her I probably would've used the benefits of being alive along with my other self to improve the chances of success from when I left.

"I needed him on the reins, he didn't want to die, nor he wanted his family hurt. I took all those points and planned around it. His family is protected, and their medical records and any and all of their analysis and treatments are sent to firms that I own. And the results are tampered to portrait them as healthy humans. The moment I'm gone, the moment they take control of the Sanctuary… I can't assure him that it will continue to happen. That was what I refreshed on his memory."

"It certainly didn't sound like it."

"I know, it seemed like a threat. Which it probably was, but desperate times require equally desperate measures. However, intimidating one who could be your child to protect him and others like him seems far more important," I raise my eyebrow, since to me sounds more like she was trying to protect herself than others.

"Believe it or not, is not like she wants to look so important, is that she is. The abnormals respect her for her has been alive longer than most of the new species. They trust in her because she has protected them and kept them safe. She gave them a home somewhere that looks equally as nice as up and they have chosen to stay and live there, under her rules over living topside and end up who knows how. Moreover, the moment she's gone, they will go back to how they lived. Fights among the different races will start and diseases and desires to take over the world will appear again as they are currently controlled but not extinguished. And trust me, some abnormals can create havoc in seconds, I'm one of those," Ashley tells me. I sigh.

"You know I used to believe my life was complicated as it was. Right now, I think I reached a whole new level," I complain.

"I understand, it's not an easy task to grasp the facts once you are pushed to the entire situation. I've been giving people the shove for enough time to understand the process. Even then, the leap of faith is always from them. I show it's up to you accept it as a gift, as a curse or simply forget all about it," Helen smiles. "I had to take my leap at some point, yes. A long time ago and since I can't remember a moment which wasn't complex, even if everything up to today was highly rewarding… Even if it was equally painful."

"I was already born into it. No mystery there…" Ashley grins, "Oh! Except when I learned that my father was Jack the Ripper and was alive. And then I died and heard he passed away, " she sighed, "Maybe, if he were still alive we would get along better now that I'm more like him than I already was," she muttered, and Helen embraced her.

"Well, I'm in the perfect situation for understanding your position, Sam." Will adds and I think it's mostly to distract me from the moment they are having, or maybe, to give them more time. "I've been there where you are now; your mother pushed me. However, she only pushed me to the limits of the cliff. The leap of faith was mine alone. I chose to remain, and I haven't regretted it. I'm sure it's nothing quite like traveling around the universe fighting aliens, but as Helen said, it is rewarding. Even if sometimes is incredibly painful."

"I'm not saying it isn't rewarding. I mean, it already gave me a family I didn't know I lacked. And I know I'm not the only one who time traveled or who died, which trust me, is fantastic to know…" I trailed.

"But it places you in a complicated position with your friends and lying to them isn't something you are used to," Helen adds taking a step closer to me as Ashley takes a step back, to compose herself I guess.

"Exactly!" I exclaim. I'm in an awkward position with two different fronts which are clouding over me.

"I hate to be the one who breaks it to you, sis," Ash grimaces, "but you can tell them the truth."

"Ashley," Helen warns her. "Everything and everyone has its own time to do things. Samantha will jump when she is ready. There's no need to pressure her." Ashley huffed.

"I just wish to be able to hang around my sister without having to resort to sharing a room on an unknown planet who knows where. Or at least, knowing she's somewhere out there without having to resort to weird things to learn it."

"It will happen, Ashley. In its due time. And speaking of time, we should go outside this room. It might result a bit unnerving that three of us are in here with you, Major." Helen winks, and she is right, the moment she opens the door, I see Daniel standing outside.

"Hey Sam, everything alright?"

"Excuse us, Doctor Jackson. Are you still sure you want to share this room? "

"Mom," Ashley rolls her eyes, "you've given Major Carter all the possible worst-case scenarios you could think of. She is still standing here… But Major, mom's right, if you want to, I can share with Henry. The dude is like a half-brother to me."

"Or we could alternate, I mean, Will suffers from insomnia. And Nikola and I barely sleep. You don't need to be in there…" I raise my hands in surrender, I know is a charade for Daniel sake. But still, that's how far I would go without answering.

"Don't worry Doctor Magnus. We will be okay. We might even have girl talk," I wink.

"Please tell me that by girl talk you mean weapons, guys, and bikes?" Ashley grimaces. And Daniel shooks his head amused.

"That's exactly what girl talk is for Sam."

"Ah, Doctor Jackson. Can you ask Colonel O'Neill if he wants to continue our meeting here? Or if we are going to wait to return to the SGC and that way avoid having to repeat the whole thing in front of General Hammond. Either way, we will be in the lab with Doctors Young and White to provide them with an alternate explanation to why are we here."

"Uh, okay. Sure. I will ask Jack and let him know your whereabouts."

"Thank you, Doctor Jackson."

I see them move away, down the corridor and I move to give Daniel some space to come in. Ashley is sitting on the bed, and he clears his throat.

"What?" She asks. Then she huffed, and standing walks away.

"Are you sure you want to stay here, Sam?" he asks in a whisper.

"Hey, I know you've seen what I'm on my bad days, but I promise I won't hurt her. I like your Major, dude. She's cool and has excellent taste in bikes."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Daniel adds blushing.

"Yeah, I know. You are trying to protect her, that's good. It's lovely of you. Hey, you think one of the Doctors will give me the composition of this planet?" The glint in her eye tells me she needs this to know if she can spend some extra energy by teleporting herself. And thinking of it, they should have a comprehensive registry of the composition; it's the base analysis every SG team does when reaching to a new planet.

"Probably, ask Doctor White, she will point you to the right person," I say, and she grimaces.

"I'll ask Francis to ask her, thanks."


	27. Chapter 27

Hey! You know, I couldn't remind for the life of me, why the hell I made them go to another planet… Anyhow, hope you enjoy this.

M.

 **Chapter Twenty-Seven**

"If you are entering here unwilling to come clean with me, then I won't hear you," Stella told them as soon as she spotted Helen and William walking towards her. Helen smiled and crossed the threshold without doubting.

"If you don't listen to us, then how will be possible for us to … come clean?" Helen asked entering the room and closing the door behind them.

"Why are you really here, Helen?"

"Someone back Earth is verifying if I'm still dead. If they discover I'm not; then they will start to haunt me until they get to me. The Stargate was our only way out without being noticed by those people. That's, of course, information only for you. I believe instructions were already sent to you and your team about our presence here."

"And that's why you blew out your house? That's why you sent someone to tell me to stop digging on your situation? Is that why I'm really here?"

"Yes, to the first one. I have no idea what the answers to your other two questions are. What I know about your position is what I've already stated, the President asked for names and yours was one of them. What's this thing you mention about someone visiting you to stop you?" Helen asked with a frown. Stella huffed.

"I couldn't accept you were gone, even if everything pointed for it being the truth. So, I kept asking and questioning everything surrounding you. And, then one day, a large man appeared at my doorstep, and he told me that I needed to stop asking questions about your case. Then, another two entered my condo and proceeded to interrogate me. However, they didn't have the sufficient clearance for me to give them more answers than calling my boss on that. Yet, they had a warrant for my blood. I have no idea what the hell could they get from my blood."

"SCIU?" Helen and Will said to each other with a frown.

"I believe that was the name of the agency they gave me. It sounded so fake that I thought it was related to you and your many businesses," Stella shrugged.

"No, but it's the same group who's after me now," Magnus added pinching the bridge of her nose.

"What were they searching for my blood?" Will looked at Helen with a warning look, and she closed her eyes.

There was no real need for their abnormal mind skills to understand that the SCIU thought Stella was abnormal and that was the reason behind it. However, Stella didn't know much about abnormals. Her Xenobiology ideas were still attached to the premise that it only happened to animals and plants, but humans remained 'pure.' Yes, Helen needed more Xenobiologist to help her with her cause, although she couldn't bring them all at once in the knowledge of the different humanoid abnormals without making sure they would be able to accept it. She knew by experience that knowing about it, and accept it were two different things altogether.

"My guess is that they were trying to verify that you weren't the one person who's carrying an extremely sensitive virus in her body. I don't know for sure, but that's the only reason I can think of a blood analysis," Helen told her but knew instantly Stella wasn't buying it. "Ah, we were in contact with this Doctor around the time of my explosion, she contacted me because she had figured a way to make herself a safe carriage for a virus."

"What could she possibly want with you? I mean, you teach and have many companies but a virus carrier?"

"She made quite the presentation; Doctor Benoit considered that by giving herself to my research she would be not only safer but making the world a better place. Charlotte was afraid what would happen if she was to fall into the wrong hands. And having access to all my money, I could keep her safe."

"And?"

"We also found around that time, the phone my private phone was under surveillance. Therefore, they knew about my conversations with Charlotte. We moved it to another facility, and she's safe now, and the virus is out of her. Then, I was forced to explode my home," she finished with a grimace.

"What this SCIU will want with her?"

"They are trying to find anything that could give them a safe pass, sort to speak."

"And why they want you?"

"Knowledge, money, contacts, Magnus has access to many facilities, and contracts with most of the agencies of our government. And that's only nationwide," Will explained, "her contact network is spread worldwide, and so it is the reach of the research."

"Let's say I believe you…"

"How else do you think we would be here at this moment if I hadn't the needed contacts?"

"Okay, I believe you."

"Thank you," Helen smiled and stood up, Will followed suit.

"It doesn't mean I trust you," Stella called over loud enough for Magnus to hear her.

"I never asked for it," Helen pointed turning around, "not even back then," she added with a smile.

 **Same Time**

 **Somewhere in the facility**

"Doctor Young, have we been formally introduced?" Daniel asked smiling and extending his hand as they both were leaving their chosen rooms.

"Ah, Doctor Jackson. No, we haven't, but your fame precedes you. And of course, your voice is the same that the one on the phone," Francis grabbed the offered hand. "I'm Doctor Francis Young, pleased to meet you."

"Daniel Jackson. So, how did you meet Janet? I mean Doctor Frasier.." Daniel started his line of questioning smoothly.

"Ah, care to walk to a place in which we can seat?" Daniel nodded, and they began to walk. "I met Doctor Frasier a couple of years ago, I just finished my Doctorate on Xenobiology, and with the help of some unnamed associates, I opened a small office that thankfully has grown over time. Anyhow, somehow she heard about it and had some questions that I could answer. And the government was kind enough to give me some clearance on the issue, which also kept me from asking the one person I know had way more knowledge than I did."

"Doctor Magnus…" Daniel trailed.

"Yes. I know things would've been quickly understood if we had access to her knowledge base. But, I asked, and it was negated. Thus, I was on my own. I knew XBSinth was on the same track we were and it was a race between Stella and me to get to the truth. Apparently, she did it better since she landed the job on the other planet."

"What's XBSinth?"

"Ah, my company is called Xenotech. Stella also landed in some funds, and she opened XBSinth. Now that I know that it was Doctor Magnus the one who gave both our names away to the Government makes sense that Janet found us. I mean, none of our companies were easily found." He smiled as they reached what looked like an empty office. "You think we can use this?"

"I don't see why not," Daniel shrugged. "I guess they will tell us if they need it." The walked inside and took a sit on the sofas that were in the corner of the room. "How did you find out about the program?"

"Well, I didn't found about it, the program found me. Granted all my academics pointed to a rather in-depth knowledge of living forms, but I knew nothing of a program on Xeno. I didn't even know what Xeno was. Back then, I had just earned my master on Biology which joined the one in bioengineering, and I had no idea what to do with myself. I walked to my dorm, yes I lived in the dorms, I had an awful amount of student debts to go and rent something," he explained, Daniel smiled. "Well, anyhow, I got to my dorm the same day I presented my thesis, and I found this envelope on the floor. They congratulated me on my new degree and invited me to participate in a lecture for this scholarship."

"Which scholarship?"

"In the few colleges, I attended there was always a rumored scholarship. It was almost an urban legend. The alumni recounted histories of one in hundreds of students getting a brown envelope inviting them to participate in a meeting for a scholarship. And they always ended up being filthy rich and famous among their peers."

"And that attracted you…" Daniel affirmed

"Yes and no, I mean. Of course, fame and money can be quite alluring. However, back then I already knew someone who had received the envelope before, and she was faring pretty well compared to my situation, and she was an artist. A painter actually, and I didn't see the relationship between her academic skills and mine. Until I was inside." He raised his hand to stop Daniel's question, "I went to the presentation, a Doctor Magnus supposedly presented it. But for some reason, she couldn't make it, and a couple of Doctor's, the Cunningham's, they explained to us why we were there and how it worked. Both Gerald and Rachel were incredibly happy to explain everything revolving the scholarship and the benefits once we finished the program. Then, they told us that each of us had been assigned to a different program and schedule with as most as four students per class. We left the meeting not quite knowing what we were going to learn."

"And yet you took it."

"Well, as I've said. I was in need. The call came a day later; I was driven to the airport, mounted in a jet and flew to a city I didn't know existed. I was scared, I mean, I thought I got myself in a prostitution ring, the mob or something. Then, I was led to a building and straight to an office and told to wait there. And I was sweating my ass off, and suddenly, the door opens, and this gorgeous woman comes out."

"Doctor Magnus."

"Yeah, Doctor Magnus. She knew everything about me, and she explained to me why I was selected and what I was expected to learn. I had to choose between two sets of programs; one would take me to a combined program with two well-renowned colleges. One would get me under her wing in a combined program with six well-renowned universities. She then gave me a folder contained the details of both sets of programs, and the resume of all the teachers I would've meet. Then, there was a knock on her door and Ashley entered. Helen introduced her to me and explained she usually joined her on her classes and I was doomed."

"You and Ashley Magnus?" Daniel asked bemusedly.

"Yeah, I don't know what made her change her mind, but something did. I know she didn't want anything to do with me and then, bam! She was super distressed, and we started dating, she mentioned something about a camera man dying."

"Okay, I'll trust you. How was that like? She doesn't seem like the super romantic dating type."

"Oh, far from it. She was.. is… special. When Stella told me she died, I couldn't believe it. And I never dared to go to her house after that."

"You visited her house?"

"Yeah, it was a huge house. I joked it looked like a mix between a church and a castle. But the times we were there, we rarely left her floor. Especially after one day when we went to the kitchen and found Stella and Helen having breakfast. I almost died of embarrassment."

"You didn't saw anything weird going on at their house?" Daniel asked hoping that he would disclose anything useful.

"Weird? No. Look, I wasn't there many times, only two or three. Not even Stella was able to roam their home. Once she tried to walk to the kitchen by herself, and Helen stopped her. After that, they've started to meet at a hotel. And the same happened with Ashley and me." Francis finished embarrassed; Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, and this program you've mentioned?"

"Oh well, the program was incredible, and one of the best parts of the scholarship was that if I took it, they would cancel all my student loans. And the financial support during and after the program was exceptional. They gave me part of the funds I needed to open my company, and they contacted me with other funders."

"And what did you learn from it?"

"Well, with what I already knew, I learned to explain and manipulate biological devices and systems. Also, we learned how to synthesize some biomaterials. I know now that we were using alien DNA for many of the experiments and probably that was the reason behind the secrecy on our field. I mean, there were four of us when my program started, and only Stella and I know about the aliens. The others, they still believe we were working with synthetic DNA."

"You were working with alien DNA even back then?"

"It's not so outrageous. We all know about that incident in the Nevada Desert, only a few of us can say it was true." He grinned, and looked at his clock, "We should go, dinner supposedly will be ready soon." Doctor Young left the room leaving a dumbfounded Daniel behind.

 **Outside**

 **Same time**

"You shouldn't be here alone," Jack warned her.

"Don't worry, Colonel. I'm a big girl; I know how to keep myself safe."

"Are you?"

"I'm pretty sure my mom showed you the video of what I can become," Ashley crooked her head and turned around to observe the Colonel.

"A punching bag for your own mother?" He added with a snide.

"If I recall correctly, Colonel. I beat up a trained airman, your alien friend and then my mother. She's one of the few how can fight against me and have a hope of success. Why would you even consider that I was the abused one?"

"Because the one in the position of power was her."

"Was she, really?" Ashley grinned, turning around to watch the horizon. "You know? The composition of the air and soil of this planet is almost a 100% match to Earth."

"What it has to do with our conversation?"

"It means I can do things I can do back home, without the issue of having easily scared humans around."

"Is that a threat?" Ashley grinned and touched his shoulder disappearing both of them back to the gate. "What the…"

"Cool, isn't it?"

"How?"

"It's one of my many skills," She shrugged, sitting on the floor, "I can transport myself and whoever is with me to any imaginable place, inside the same planet, of course. I do prefer to know the place before trying to transport," she smiled, "I don't want to end up reappearing on a rock or something."

"This is so much more Carter field than mine…" he sighed, plopping himself on the floor next to her.

"it's funny."

"What's funny?"

"You are… I mean, if you put all of us in a room, the most dangerous one is me. They are puppies beside me if I'm to lose control. However, for some reason, I'm the one you feel comfortable around. And I'm not sure if that's because of my looks or because of my mom's looks."

"Well, she's .."

"A lot like your Carter. You like her, right?" She asked, and when she noticed the widened eyes, she chuckled. "I mean, Samantha, not my mother. It's alright; it's not like you actually need to answer it. It shows." She said pulling the grass from the soil.

"You are very .. random," he sighed as she kept changing subjects.

"Am I? I think everything is related though. Don't look at me like that, Colonel. I can show you how everything I've said is linked. The real question is, can you take the truth from someone you see as a child?" Jack sighed

"I've often found that children are the best at telling you the truth. Whatever it might be but you are not a child."

"No, I'm an abnormal in who, for some reason, you trust. Or at least, regard with some confidence," he raised his eyebrow, "Come on, don't lie to yourself, you are sitting on the floor ripping grass with me. Name someone who you wouldn't have some sort of trust that you would allow to be in this situation. Can you imagine my mom and you sitting like this? I mean, that's hilarious."

"Alright, let's say I sorta trust you." She grinned.

"If you gave her a chance, you might be able to do it someday. Or maybe, you will never be able to do it. Even when known, my mother can be a terrifying person. Or rather, intimidating." Ashley looked at the gate falling silent, unconsciously grasping the grass beside her.

"Why things are related?" He dared to ask, and she turned around to watch him.

"It all revolts around you liking Samantha. You see Henry, Nikola and even Will as possible suitors. Henry is a tech guy, and Sam is a tech girl, they should be able to have a relationship based on their same hobbies, right? Then Nikola, if you know the history version of his mind and skills, how couldn't she be attracted to him? I know he can be as annoying as he can be charming. Then, there's William, the nerdy looking guy. Moreover his mindset goes with Samantha mindset way better than yours. Or so you believe, probably unconsciously."

"Okay, that explains my reaction to them… Do please point to me the reason why I don't trust your mother. You can't honestly say that she might be behind Carter."

"And yet, you think she might be behind her. But not in the same way, you are conscious and probably afraid, that she would offer Sam something you can't. You can give her a life with aliens and wars and visit other planets and the occasional time to play with her tech. My mom can offer her a life of abnormals and some sort of safety. The same strange 'alien forms' with better pay and access to technology that even if you've seen out here, you are yet to develop. She's dangerous for you because she can take Sam away from you. And then, there's me… I'm just her daughter. You know Sam isn't interested in females, and even if we share certain tastes, I can't take her from you." She grinned. Jack shook his head and smiled.

"It's a nice theory the one you have all figured out, kid. But it's not right; I'm not afraid of your mother or any of your friends taking Sam somewhere. I'm conscious that your mom has enough connections to grant her and you all the permission to be here, and before it, the clearance to enter the SGC. We know she is some kind of abnormal, and that, for some reason, people wants her gone. We are aware she has money to do whatever she wants and buy whatever she needs. I don't trust her; there's something off in her."

"Hey, you said it, she's abnormal. Of course, there's something odd in her!" Ashley laughed and grasped his hand, and they reappeared on the same stop they had left before. "That was nice, having this chat with you, Colonel. Hopefully, it was as useful for you as it was for me." Jack frowned, "Don't worry, I know your friend will come to give it a try. He might be a little luckier."

"Why him and not me?" He asked with an eyebrow raised before noting it was a dumb question.

"Well, Doctor Jackson is hot," she grinned mischievously, and for some reason it made him remember Sam. "I could've been into you, Colonel. You are not half bad. There's only one problem from where I stand. You are taken, and I don't like to share." She whispered to him blushing before walking away back into the facility.

Jack watched her go with a frown, he hadn't learned absolutely anything from her, and he wondered if he gave away anything without noticing. Apparently, his deceiving skills were rusty while the girl's skills were in perfect shape.

"Hey! Here you are," Sam's voice brought him back to the planet. "I was looking for you, Sir. For some reason, I thought I might find you questioning one of them," she joked, but the grimace on his face told her more than he needed to word. "Who?"

"Ashley," he confessed in a breath. "Did you know she can teleport?" He added hoping the change of subject or the surprise of the topic would take her annoyance away.

"Yes, I know the scientific details behind it too. She's very well versed in the science of it. What did you ask her? Sir?" she added belatedly.

"Well, I could say she told me everything…" he trailed, then blushed under her unwavering eyes. "But she didn't say a word. She teleported us to the gate and then she talked about … Nothing significant. And when she was done, she brought us here. I believe she likes Daniel." He finished still quite dumbfounded with the result of their encounter. Sam squinted at him "Has there been any contact from the base?"

"No, sir. No radio contact with the base," she frowned, he had his radio with him. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Yeah, Carter. I'm okay."

 **Inside**

"So, whatcha find out?" Henry asked Ashley as he saw her almost skipping to the dining room.

"Oh, plenty."

"What did you give away?" He whispered with an eyebrow raised.

"Nothing."

"Ashley…" he trailed.

"Really, dude. I've given nothing away. I might have told Colonel O'Neill he is afraid of mom stealing his girl. But nothing about anything else…"

"And?" Henry asked curiously looking at her.

"He's freaked out by it," she grinned.

"You sure?"

"Sure? Dude! Do you forget who was in charge of questioning the bad guys, and the not so bad guys and who dealt with the mob and such?"

"Just asking…"

"What?" she asked annoyed, and he kept his stare on her. "Okay, I might have shown him my awesome teleporting skills. But he didn't freak out, which is good. Right?"

"Did I hear correctly, Ashley Magnus?" Ash sighed and closed her eyes.

"Busted," Henry whispered, and she glared at him.

"Yeah… But I asked first to know if it was safe to do it here. It's totally safe, mom."

"Oh, Ashley, whatever I'm going to do with you?" Helen sighed.

"Love me because I'm your flesh and blood? And maybe because you are right and he is freaking out on you taking his girlfriend." Ash smiled.

"She isn't his girlfriend," Henry defended.

"Isn't she a friend who happens to be a girl?" Ashley winked making Henry huff.

"Stop it, both of you," Helen warned. "How did he react to your traveling skills?" she asked frowning when her daughter smiled.

"Well, for someone who supposedly fears abnormals he looked not freaked out."

"Therefore, he isn't afraid of abnormal's skills,' Henry concluded.

"That's what I've thought too!"

"Allow me to put a damper on your emotions. We can't be entirely sure that he's not afraid of our skills," Helen added managing to make them change expressions quickly. "He might have found your most benign one as interesting, or he might have the knowledge or even experience with other transportation's means similar to yours."

"Wait, are you saying that our government might have been able to create tech to teleport and we didn't provide it?" Henry asked bemusedly.

"That's preposterous Helen," Nikola added outraged.

"Shouldn't we discuss this in a more private place?" Will ask entering the common area behind Nikola.

"Well, we should. However, Ashley and Henry were here discussing it when I arrived. And I'm quite confident that we will hear them approach. Or smell, in some cases." Magnus added with a grin, while Ashley, Henry, and Nikola scrunched up their noses.

"As I was pointing, the last time I've had the pleasure of working for your Government," he waved towards Henry and Ashley. Helen raised an eyebrow. "It's not mine nor yours, Dear Helen. Therefore, is theirs… I digress, the last time their scientist barely knew how to blow their noses let alone how to create technology capable of teleport matter. And they are approaching in case you haven't sensed them."

"You might have some experience with their government, Nikola. Most of us remember your last experience with it. However, you forget a little something," she trailed. "Good evening," she greeted SG-1.

"For the smell of it, and the lack of noise from the kitchen, I'm sure food is ready," Ashley grinned. "We just don't know the procedure, and we thought it would be polite to us to wait for the lab owners to join us."

SG-1 eyed at them, and for once, the Sanctuary team looked like they weren't trying to conquer the world or explain some conspiracy in which SG-1 had miraculously not fallen in. Nikola looked at Helen waiting for her to disclose the information which she didn't.

"I guess we can all behave for now," Jack spoke openly, "we still must pretend to be here for some experiment of yours."

"I told you, Doctor Jackson! See they are already here! We are late." Doctor Young commented out loud entering the room; Daniel merely shrugged at the man's complaint.

"What do they have, Helen?" Nikola pleaded quietly using the distraction to move closer to her.

"Her, Nikola. They have her." She answered, and he closed his eyes.

"Touche."

"If I may get your attention," Stella called loudly, seeing that both teams were on the same table, eating away and trying to ignore each other as best as they could. They all turned, and she saw the hopeful glances from the SG-1 members. "We haven't got any communications from SGC. However, the weather here is extreme at night and therefore, if they contact us you are all stuck here unless you have brought extreme weather clothing items. All radio contact is closed in an hour; the climatic conditions make them unusable."

"What? It was sunny and warm out there recently," Ashley commented.

"Well, yes. However, once we enter the dark side of the rotation, it gets extremely cold. Once we reach what we would call midnight, the temperature outside goes below freezing. And starts raising as soon as the first rays of the sun reach the planet."

"Winter should suck then," Henry muttered.

"Not exactly, Henry," Stella commented. "The position in which we are on the planet allows us to keep an almost weather yearly. The freezing at nights is also yearly. We know that further north and south climate only gets worse and that's why the facility is located here. And if you don't mind I will go to dinner and then to bed."

"Thank you for the information Stella." Helen bowed her head, while Colonel O'Neill shook his head in defeat. "Don't look so disgruntled Colonel; I'm quite confident that SCIU is still checking the SGC."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's not the first time they do searching. They won't leave until they had revised every available piece of paper and presented all the permissions they have. And your SGC has plenty of spaces for hiding someone if you put your mind to it."

"What is this SCIU anyways?" Daniel asked

"Didn't you search? It's a counter-intelligence agency, a special one." Helen nodded towards Ashley.

"Okey.. and why are they searching for you?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I helped a dangerous prisoner of them escape? And before you jump to the worst conclusion you can imagine. He is dead, he and four of his worst and strongest soldiers were blown with my home."

"Like you?"

"Oh no, I had means of surviving. They didn't. However, they attacked me which took them out of the hero complex they were trying to create to control the ones who believe in me," she smiled. "Well that, and I'm a rather uncomfortable pain in the arse."

"I can attest to that," Colonel O'Neill muttered.

"Jack!" Daniel exclaimed.

"What? It's the truth. She only tells us what she wants to; she won't disclose valuable information. She certainly hasn't shared why they are here, or what's their real interest. And she's playing with us."

"Oh, you wish she was playing with you, Colonel O'Neill," Nikola grinned. "But no, our dear Helen is exactly like this. She has been like this forever. You know, women and their needs of keeping an air of mistery."

"Well, that explains why she isn't talking. What about you, Mister Tesla?"

"I would never reveal any secrets I have in my possession," Helen chuckled. "Well, not those which aren't mine at least."

"Meaning that if we ask you about the reason behind both Doctor White and Young calling you Doctor Broomthing, you might confess?" Jack questioned, and Nikola sighed at his inability to say his other name.

"We all need an alter ego time to time. However, how I get to be called shouldn't be of your concern."

"Nikola," Helen called, and both Jack and Nikola turned towards her. "It might be wise to give them some rope. Even if when the time comes it means we are the ones who need to jump."

"If you insist, dear.I will place whatever fall out it provokes in your delightful hands."

"Stop the flattering and start with telling," Magnus ordered him.

"You always have to be the bucket of cold water," He huffed. "Let me put this simple enough for you, Colonel. It's not easy to make people believe I'm me, it's complex explaining to others who I look like this, and the numbers between what you see and my real birth don't quite match up. It's irritating how complicated it can be doing anything in your country while being legally dead and in any other nation for that matter. Therefore, in order to have something reminiscing of what you call a real life, both under and hiding from Helen's protection, I needed to create some alter egos that I could use to start things as complicated as my global domination plans or buying wine without being a suspect of a petty crime."

"Global domination plans?"

"Yes, I had a couple of those, since several Governments can't take their heads out of the grown and figure we only have one Earth. Or at least only one we could access when I was creating my master plan. Sadly, Helen found about those, and they were all but eradicated."

"And this Doctor BoomLaugther is one of your alter egos?"

"I won't even try to correct you; I'm under the impression you do it to try and ruse me into ditch more information which won't happen. And yes, one of my alter egos. Even if I have all my papers in order as Nikola Tesla, meaning I have a fake group of them that print a different birth date, it's easier to present myself as someone else. Particularly on the last few years when people had finally come to their senses and started to notice my geniality. "

"Nikola used his alter ego to keep me in the dark from the fact he was talking with my students. I didn't know he had access to them until both Stella and Francis recognized him."

"That doesn't say much about security on your facilities." Jack pointed.

"My facilities are secure. However, colleges tend to be unique to place their conditions when one requires much more of what they are already offering. I couldn't keep my students all day under my wing, they had other Professors and library and project times, that I couldn't always supervise. Sometimes, Colonel, you have to know when to delegate."

"I don't see someone like you delegating things, Doctor. You seem like the control freak kind." Jack pointed, making Helen smile.

"Even the best of us can't help it but give in into sharing the burden, Colonel. I might be a control freak as you put it, yet, I've to know my limits for quite some time."

"Can we just eat in peace?" Ashley sighed. "Oops, sorry, that wasn't meant to be loud."

"I agree with Ashley, sir. There will be plenty of time for questioning after dinner."

"I don't know Major, I might find a need for a decent sleep," Magnus winked at her.

"You can hide in your room, Doctor Magnus. But you will have to speak sooner or later."

"Yes, but if I hide in my room, Colonel. I'll only do it, so you get more time to interrogate the people you are still missing. Maybe, I'm just waiting for you to get your whole idea of me formed before I try to explain to you who I am and bring your concept down. Tell me, Colonel, do you really believe my daughter would give away something that would be useful for you?" Jack clenched his jaw.

Will observed the exchange and also the expression on Sam's face. He placed a hand over Helen's tight under the table and gave it a light press. She eyed him from the corner of her eyes, and he pointed quietly towards Sam. Helen nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I would love to continue this, Colonel. However, it's not useful for you or me. And we are wasting time. You can decide you want to keep inquiring whatever is that you want to know with my team, or you can ask your questions directly. For the second, we will need a safe environment out of the prying ears of this facility, much like as we were doing at the SGC."

"Are you sure?" Will intervened for the first time in a long while.

"Yes, Will. We can't keep trying to evade their inquiries; they must have valid questions which need an answer. And if we are in possession of them why don't we simplify their lives?"

Jack looked at the Doctor dumbfounded, for some reason the expression on her face reminded him of a dream he knew he had many times since the whole issue started, and yet couldn't remember. He was aware that it had to do with the Sam who had crossed over the mirror and yet, he only knew there was something in there he was missing. Something important which had to do with this Doctor or his Sam. Or maybe, it was just the likeness between all of them. He shook his head.

"I'll arrange the room before they all turn over for the day."

"Excellent, Colonel."

He didn't like one bit the change of mind of the Doctor, but he would make sure to get a room ready before she had a chance to change her mind again and place, yet another, excuse over why she wasn't disclosing information as she had told them she would.

"I trust you will be able to find me, once you manage such feat," she added, and with that, she raised from the table and disappeared out of the room.


	28. Chapter 28

Sorry! It's been ages since I last posted a chapter for this one! Thankfully I managed to (finally) unstuck this chapter. Hopefully, now I can write the next one faster

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter Twenty Eight.

He walked towards the library he had spotted earlier to claim the one settee which seemed comfortable until the time for the meeting or sleep arrived. The second one, he knew, wasn't going to happen easily, since according to his internal clock he had at least half of the day to go. The first one… He sighed pinching the bridge of his nose.

Jack had talked with half the members of the base before both teams had to retire to bed because of their similar answers. Apparently, when the project failed to find all the scientist and crew to continue with it, the bright minds already living there decided to keep the base as ecological as possible. And as a result, the facility entered a power saving mode, and the only place which was kept warmed was what they defined as 'the living area.'

A few of the scientist offered a solution of sorts, they could meet in a room if they wanted but they scientist didn't recommend it since the rooms weren't exactly spacious. And then, there was the library to which he was going, that unless they decided to do a sitting in a circle in the floor kind of meeting, it was too small to fit them all.

After the results of Jack's questioning had returned the same answer, they searched for Doctor Magnus and her party. They found her and half of her team in a lab, surrounded by computers and things he didn't remember seeing there before. She acknowledged them before she turned around and the news was passed. Doctor Magnus mysteriously smiled before she started to pack her things, and then she added a 'very well, then, I shall retire to bed,' in her odd accent he was sure he hadn't heard before from another person but her. And he had met a lot of British people during his career. Anyhow, one by one everyone ended up turning towards their rooms as the warmth started to sweep away from the other areas.

He shook his head, he had attempted to remain in his room until he managed to sleep out of sheer boredom, but he couldn't. Ceiling watching wouldn't work that night, and that was why he had decided to find something to distract his mind. Certainly, he didn't think he would be sharing the small library with anyone which made him stop dead on his tracks as he noticed the lights were on, a frown took ownership of his facial expression until a thought occurred to him. It was probably Sam as she was worse than him on the no sleep department.

But when he opened the door and entered the space, he had to look twice. On his about to be claimed spot Doctor Magnus was seated with her legs curled under her body and a concentrated look on her face. Something told him she knew he was there, in the same way, Sam always did.

"Doctor Magnus? I thought you retired to bed?" he finally managed to ask. She raised her eyes and lowered the folder in her hands and smiled.

"Once you come of age, Doctor Jackson, one understands there's a difference between retiring to bed and sleeping. I'm very fond of the first one alas the second one is always a bit harder to achieve," she untangled herself and smiled at him again. "I'm quite confident you were looking for this particular spot, Doctor. I assure that even if your Colonel considers me dangerous for some reason, I believe I know, I don't bite," then she grinned mischievously, "at least, not if it isn't required."

"Huh," he blushed as she patted the place beside her. "I…"

"Come on, Doctor. I promise I'll try to behave. I was educated to be a proper host, and that means I can act the part in social situations."

"What I don't get is, what are you doing here?" She raised an eyebrow and moved the folder in her hands. "I mean, you could be reading in your room." He added while perusing the library in search of something to read.

"Yes, I attempted it. The light in the room I'm at isn't the best for reading, and I found this folder you gave me to be particularly interesting. However I'm far overstraining my eyes on bad light," he frowned, she smiled, "I have far too much of experience for reading under the candlelight."

"Ah, your exploratory side?" He asked, not quite sure if he would get an answer or not.

"Something like that, yes," she answered vaguely bringing the folder back to reading position. She smiled fondly, remembering that her passion for reading was one of the things that made Nikola invest his mind and time into creating a better power system which could help her to read more and him to work more. Not knowing what exactly was going on in her mind, Daniel looked at the folder in her hands, he had given plenty of information to keep her occupied by General Hammond's, and possibly the President's, orders.

"Which one is it?" She seemed on a talkative streak, so he kept asking.

"Your take on Jaffa culture," she lowered the file again and tried to keep the knowing smile out of her face. She had learned a long time ago that the best way to avoid question you don't want to answer was to give more information you don't mind sharing.

"You know? I find quite kind of interesting that your depiction of their kel'no'reem habit finds quite similar roots to what the Buddhist have explained about their transcending meditation. Although, they seek it for illumination purposes rather than for healing. However, they believe that only an equilibrated human can reach illumination and while in the search for it, one can heal oneself by pure will," the frown on his face told her she had managed to distract him.

"Are you comparing the Jaffa's with the Earth Buddhist?" Daniel turned around to watch her with astounded expression.

"I wasn't. You were, subconsciously at least. Your description of their ways and the explanation of how they were expected to reach the afterlife. And I quote 'to obtain it; they must be willing to live without their prim'tas and enter an altered state of consciousness which will allow them to evolve and leave their bodies behind. And thus, becoming a ascended being.' You were explaining exactly the point of seeking illumination, the ability to leave your body behind and 'reach the light.' Well, that's the abbreviated version of the teachings of one of my masters at least." She grinned.

"I never thought about it," he frowned. "Wait, you are already there? That description is around 500 pages in."

"I'm a fast reader among other things," she told him, closing the folder and observing him. He turned around again, and she knew her attempt had failed.

"Tell me something, Doctor," she nodded once, for him to continue he believed, "for what I gathered, you were searching for Doctors Young and White before they were Doctors and kept them in a path convenient for you."

"It there a question, Doctor Jackson? Or you want me just to expand the reasons why they know what they know and not the whole truth?"

"I would like that, yes."

"Then I will ask you to come closer; I certainly don't want them to learn such truth by overhearing it. And yes, really, you can trust I won't bite you. I'm not a vampire after all," Helen added. Daniel nodded and walked towards her, and she did something he thought she would never do. She turned around and sat with her legs crossed towards the other side, where he was supposed to sit.

"I like to talk looking at whom I speak with, let's blame it on my British roots." He nodded and tried not to stare, with her sitting like that, it only required a bit of imagination, and he could believe he was talking with Sam. "Sorry, I can't avoid looking like her. I can turn around if you wish even if I would rather speak to your face."

"No, it's okay. Truth to be told you are as much like her as you are different. We've seen closer resemblances," he smiled remembering all the other Sam's.

"Ah, should I even ask?"

"Well, you do have the clearance. We had the chance to see parallel dimensions."

"If you have encountered different Samantha Carters then, I should be not like her at all and yet somewhat similar. Anyhow, if you can take looking at me then, I shall explain what I mean."

"Please."

"Well, I did push both Stella and Francis towards this career they have. Even if the decision was ultimately theirs, the other choice was good but not quite comparable. Once they took it, I took them under my wings so to speak. However, mine can keep several things protected and separated from each other at the same time. I taught them everything they needed to know to thrive in their current professions except the complete truth."

"That you are abnormal."

"No, well not only that." His eyebrow rose, and she chuckled. "They don't know I'm one because they don't know abnormals exists as a reality. They know about some weird species from the animal kingdom, which aren't your regular brand. However, they don't know about the human-like or humanoid like abnormals which exist and thrive in the Earth."

"How? I mean…"

"I presented them one abnormal once, under the guise of it being a rare species. They wanted to kill it."

"And you want to protect them."

"Yes."

"And if they wanted to kill the whatever it was, you couldn't allow them to know the truth since their first instinct was to destroy it."

"Exactly."

"Then why did you tell us? I mean, Jack reaction was the same when he first learned about it," she nodded.

"You'll see, you all have the right mindset, Doctor. Regardless of what you all think of me, despite Colonel O'Neill's words, you all have been trying to protect life in the outside, and if you are already doing it out here…"

"You believe we will accept it when back on Earth."

"No, Doctor Jackson. I'm quite sure you all have accepted it. The only issue you are yet to accept is that I exist and for some reason beyond what you've seen, you consider me the most dangerous one. I can assume a few motives for it and for most you would be right. Although, the only one that matters you have it all wrong."

"The only one?"

"That's all I'm willing to say about this Doctor Jackson, is there any other question?"

"Yeah, you were looking for me before, why?"

"Before, when I invited you?" He nodded, "Or before when I pushed Catherine to search for you?"

"What?" he asked dumbfounded, Catherine told him she had reached him because of his book.

"Oh, trust her Doctor Jackson, she probably knows even when you had your first kiss," a voice made Daniel jump out of freight since supposedly they were alone and he hadn't heard anyone approaching.

"Nikola," Magnus trailed, not looking amused.

"Helen, I was searching for that folder I was working on earlier?"

"William has it."

"Okay then, I leave you to… Whatever gossip you were doing. Do try to keep your whispering lower," he smirked before he left

"Let me guess, he too has issues with sleep," Daniel pointed.

"Don't we all?" Sam asked entering the room.

"Sam!" He jumped out of the couch, making Helen roll her eyes as she moved to sit on a much more proper way. "What are you doing here?"

"You mean, besides the obvious reason?" He blushed, "I was looking for Helen."

"What can I do for you Major?" Helen smiled.

"Ah, you'll see. Colonel O'Neill knees aren't in its prime at the moment. Teal'c is kel'no'reeming. Daniel is always too gentle. And Ashley suggested that you would be an excellent partner for a sparring match. I asked her, but she mentioned she didn't feel quite comfortable if someone else wasn't present, just in case. Whatever that means," she finished enumerating her reasons with a slight frown.

"There's no need to ramble, Major. I will gladly spar with you. And with that Ashley meant she needs someone who can control her since sadly, she can't do it herself. That means, either Nikola or I should be present. However, if you want to spar with her and she probably will be very willing, I can sit while you do so."

"Sam, you can't…"

"I can assure you, Doctor Jackson, under the right environment Ashley is no more dangerous than a butterfly."

"And yet it has been said that the flutter of butterfly wings can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world."

"It's a good thing that this world is empty on the other side then," Helen pointed. "I will check with Ashley to see if she wants to be your rival. Shall we find ourselves in their gym in ten minutes? I've already wrecked one of my beloved suits this week."

"Sure, go ahead, and I will go see everything is set. Come with me, Daniel?"

"Sam, why are you doing this?" Daniel doubtfully asked once they were out of Helen's sight.

"What? Asking for a spar? I'm too awake to be asleep already, and if I don't do something soon, I might go crazy."

"You? Come on, Sam. I've been with you stuck on several cells along the years, you aren't the one who goes crazy."

"That's different, when caught I'm always trying to come up with a plan to escape which allows me to be distracted and sit still. Now, there's no way to go back until the sun is out and the weather goes back to normal. And I'm not in a life or death situation which needs my extensive thinking," she trailed

"You are bored," he summed up for her.

"I am," she grimaced

"Then why didn't you come to find me, we could've found something for you to do."

"Like? I'm all ears, Daniel," She grinned as she stretched.

"Well, I don't know. Something."

"Right… and that's why I asked Ashley to spar with me, and she sent me to H…" she paused remembering she was speaking with Daniel, "Doctor Magnus."

"Even after what she did to Ashley?" He asked worriedly.

"It's because of that actually. Listen, she won't hurt me. I just need to burn some energy and see if after that I manage to get at least a couple of hours of shuteye. If it works, then I'll be a happy camper tomorrow morning. If it doesn't, then I will be awake and probably grumpy and running on coffee."

"Okay, if this is what you want to do," he trailed raising his hands in surrender, "You are old enough to make your own decisions."

"It is."

"But I'm staying here, and if she hurts you I will intervene," he added warningly. Sam smiled and nodded, thinking to herself that if Ashley barely managed to stop their mother, Daniel had least chances than she had.

 **Helen's room**

 **Same time**

 **"** I thought you were at the library reading," Will commented when he saw her entering their room.

"I was. Until Samantha found me," she smiled at him and walked towards her bag. He lowered the file he was reading and observed as Helen started to unbutton the shirt she had, he grinned.

"You'll better take your mind out of the gutter, you gal-sneaker," she smiled.

"Gal-sneaker? That's new."

"Not exactly, I haven't used that one since my return to the past," she pointed getting rid of her shirt.

"Not new then, but really, gal-sneaker? It does mean what I believe it means, right?"

"If you are thinking about a man very apt to seducing, then yes."

"I ought to learn more about your ancient language, dear" he commented in his awful fake accent making her roll her eyes. "Why are you getting changed?"

"As I would say in my ancient language: I'm about to shake a flannin," he raised his eyebrow, "Samantha asked me to spar with her, or to observe as she does it with Ashley."

"Is that safe?" He questioned.

"Ashley?" she inquired, chewing her lower lip. He nodded once. "Probably not. However, I'm still able to fight her and if I can't then Nikola's still able to fight her full force."

"Even if he must change to reach full force?" He inquired, she sighed.

"If everyone is asleep or pretending to be…"

"Huh. Why now?" She rubbed her face tiredly and sat on the bed in front of him.

"That's an easy answer, or I believe it is. Samantha saw what Ashley's capable of, and moreover, she saw what I can take and that made her wonder how much she can handle," Helen explained, a moment of silence settled as she allowed him to think it through.

"Did she tell you that?"

"There was no need, Will. You can come and watch if you want to and try to bring me back if I'm lost."

"She's your…" she placed a finger over his lips to stop him.

"Walls always have ears, William," she berated, he nodded, and she dropped her finger.

"You don't have reasons to hurt her, and you have reasons not to. I don't see you losing it."

"Will you come anyway?"

"Sure. Let me put some shoes on."

 **The Gym**

"This is a small gym," Will commented as they walked inside. It wasn't exactly what he was expecting for a base of the size they described before.

"The real one wasn't finished, and it's not covered by the current power saving grid," Daniel explained. "So, they moved part of what they do use to here. It used to be two rooms, they took down the wall and voila!"

"How do you know all that?" Sam asked

"I was bored, and I asked," he shrugged.

"Curious minds are always in search of something to ask for or learn," Helen smiled. "Of course, they are also not prone to sleep, as we all can attest."

"Ashley it's not coming?" Sam asked with a small frown.

"Ah, she's coming but only to watch," Wil explained.

"Oh," Sam added a bit crestfallen.

"Yeah, I don't feel too comfortable fighting with you, even if mom is watching over. I don't know if I will be able to fix myself after," she shrugged. "I might be if we weren't stuck inside. So, mom, it is. Don't let her deceive you, she knows more than I do," Ashley added with a shrug plopping herself on the floor near the mats.

"I don't quite get why they would add a sparing area; they don't look quite like wrestlers to me," Helen added pacing towards the area, Ashley and Sam giggled.

"It's not a sparring area, mom."

"My best bet is Zumba or aerobics."

"Do I even want to know what that's all about?"

"Yeah, no. Stay with martial arts, you are good at it," Ashley grinned.

"If my flesh and blood don't feel like sharing. Then I shall investigate, later. Ready Major?"

"Sure," she answered.

"I believe she's waiting for some form of salute," Ashley provided as Sam started to bounce around not getting any movement from Helen.

"Ah," Sam blushed. "Okay, I can do it." The major added stopping bouncing around, making Ashley giggle.

"You are funny Sam, she was waiting for your attack," Ashley pointed, Sam blushed, but before she had any chance to say or do anything else, Helen winked at Ash and moved to attack. The major reacted taking a step back and one to the left and protectively raising her hands.

"Hey!" she exclaimed moving to the side again, "what about saluting?"

"I've never been in a real fight in which people wait for you to salute them," Helen grinned, "what about you?"

"No," Sam huffed trying to punch Helen. "Telling me to stop, yes."

They danced around each other, giving almost punches and kicks and moving forwards and backward as if it was choreographed none of them really trying. Helen landed a half blow to Sam's stomach making the Major double over.

"I'm sorry, are you okay?" Doctor Magnus walked close to her and Sam used the moment and distraction to kneel Helen's stomach. Then, the fight got harder. Sam was trying, and Magnus was avoiding. Blows and kicks kept coming over and over again, she blocked most of them, but she couldn't avoid a few, or she would hurt Sam, and with the current speed and momentum, the blow would be a hard one.

"You want to know," Helen told her as she avoided a kick.

"What?" Sam inquired not stopping her attempts.

"How does it work for you," Helen rolled to the side.

"Yes!"

"Then we should stop," Magnus added, making her fall in a quick movement Sam didn't anticipate and managed to stand at the end of it. "I need you to surrender, Samantha," she added in an almost whisper while she placed her feet on Sam's chest to stop her from moving.

"No," She answered and tried to get up. But Helen wasn't bulging.

"You have to let it go. For now," Magnus finished, allowing her daughter to be free before walking a couple of steps away. Ashley nodded and Will let out a breath he didn't know he was holding until then. Sam ran toward her and with a quick grasp made Helen turn towards her again, not giving her time to do anything but move avoiding the attack.

"Stop yourself, Samantha," she warned again as Sam readied herself to attack again.

"Why?"

"Don't you see?" Helen frowned.

"What!" Sam asked throwing a punch. Helen grabbed her hand and brought Sam to her body.

"Them," she whispered. "Are you ready to let them know?"

And Sam noticed, at some point, Teal'c and Jack had joined them. Probably for a training of their own, but they were closely watching the fight between mother and daughter. Sam huffed.

"No," she accepted, and Helen smiled letting her go. "But I want to know," she finished biting her inner lower lip.

"Then, once we are over, come back with us. And we can test your limits in a safe environment. Unless, you are ready to let them know, in which case, a spar would do. Nikola and I can both be used as your measurement."

"What about Ashley?"

"Ashley can be too much, for any of us. For that, you will need to control your healing too. Let's say we are training and Ashley is your final test," she finished with a smile, before walking away. "Colonel O'Neill, Mister Teal'c, she's very well trained."

"Indeed, she is," Teal'c admitted making Sam blush. "And so are you, Doctor Magnus."

"I had time to learn," she commented. "Well, I guess I need another shower and hopefully this time when I go to bed, I'll manage to stay in bed. Good Night."

They waited until the three freaks were out of the gym, before speaking again. Sam was walking towards the door when his voice calling her made her turn around and walk to him.

"Carter," he added trying to concentrate on what he was going to say and not in the way sweat made her skin glisten. Or how rosy her cheeks were looking, and how he could picture her looking even more disheveled than that if he one day managed to get his head out of the hole he was hiding in and asked her out for once. Well, for that he had to find a way to bend the rules.

"Sir?" She called him noticing he was lost in his thoughts. She had seen him doing it a few times, and she often wondered what could trigger such a deep concentration.

"Ah, did she bullied you to fight her?" He squinted at her.

"No, sir. I asked her to spar with me. I found her technique to be quite ample when she fought with Ashley, and I thought I might as well used in my favor. I believe that's not against any rule?"

"No, Carter. It's not. However, you should have told us. What would've happened if she managed to hurt you as she did to her kid?" He asked out of concern.

"Well, she would've tended my injuries? She's a medical doctor, sir," she smiled.

"That's not what I meant, Carter." He sighed, and she did too.

"And because of that, I asked Daniel to join me. And she asked William to do the same. They were my safe keepers, and even with them here, she wouldn't hurt me on purpose, Colonel."

"How do you know that? You've met the woman for days!"

"Sir, is there anything you want to say to me? Or can I go get showered and to bed?" she asked trying not to sound impolite. And holding herself not to cross the line, he was there too close to her, and the smell of pure Jack O'Neill so close was making her dizzy with need. She took a step back.

"I just want you to be careful around them, Sam," he whispered pinching the bridge of his nose, thinking he got it too far. "You don't know what they are really capable of," he added as he noticed her a bit distracted. She was listening to him, but at the same time, she was inhaling and discovering she could identify Teal'c and Daniel and even the faint remains of William, Ashley, and Helen.

"I know, and I thank you for your concern, Colonel," she smiled, and he flinched, he was aware that a but was to be expected, he raised his eyebrow and she sighed. "I'm a big girl, Colonel. I stood up to the Shavaddai and fought Gods, why would I need to be more careful of what I already am?"

"The guy from the shavvies was a douche, but he was just a human with his knife. And the false Gods, we know how they work, if you can keep yourself away from her hand device, then everything is okay. But them, how can we know how we should act against them if we don't know what they are."

"I guess, you are partially correct on that, Colonel. But if we don't test the limits, then how are we going to find out if we are capable of defeating them," she finished. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came, so she nodded once before walking past him. "Good night guys!"

"So that's how she knows when someone is close," Sam muttered to herself, "she identifies them by their smell. Maybe that's how I knew before too," she frowned. Sam always knew who was coming, even if sometimes was too distracted to voice it. However, it wasn't until now that she had found an explanation for that ability of hers. "I guess one learns something new every day," she finished opening the door to her room.

"You do realize you were moving faster than the average, right?" Ashley's voice told her as she entered.

"What?"

"You. Were. Moving. Too. Fast." She punctuated. "That's why mom didn't try to hit you just to outsmart you."

"Which she managed most times. Wait, what do you mean she didn't try?"

"She stopped trying when you were moving over average; she packs a mean punch without moving fast. Once she's fighting, it's twice as hard or more."

"Can we go back and start this conversation? I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Oh, please. Like you didn't notice the moment mom stopped fighting and started to avoid hitting you," Ashley added with a knowing look, and then her expression changed. "Oh, you didn't."

"That's why I could hit her a couple of times?" She asked, and Ashley nodded. Sam sighed letting herself fall on the bed. "So, I'm not as good as I thought."

"Hey, you stink. Shower before bed, girl," Ash grinned. "I'm sorry, I know you got your hopes up when you got her, but she's not that easy to get. I'm talking from experience." Sam groaned. "Look, she cares about you a lot, and she knows you are not ready, you don't know how to control your healing, nor you know your abnormal limits. How could she fight you full force? She knows you wouldn't be able to mend yourself as quickly as you will when you find out more when you control it. And she already has issues with your Colonel not trusting her."

"I guess I see the point."

"Good, go shower." Sam nodded and walked towards her bag, shouldering it she walked towards the bathroom and stopped at the entrance with a frown.

"Hey, if we were moving faster than average…"

"They didn't saw you, at least not Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c. Doctor Jackson did, but I don't know if he noticed how fast you were moving. He was more worried about you not getting hurt."

"Thanks."

 **Helen's room.**

"Why did you stopped the fight?" Will asked as Helen entered the room drying her hair with a towel. She turned around to watch him, "Don't tell me because Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c entered. You had her on the floor before they were in the room." Helen sighed.

"Sometimes, you notice too much for you own good," she whispered.

"I know," he smiled.

"She was attacking too fast and was coming too strong," she explained as if it made a lot of sense.

"What?" She closed her eyes and then as she walked and stood close to him, she raised her shirt where her skin was becoming darker from the hits. "She…" he trailed as he softly trailed the extent of her injuries.

"Yes," she shivered, "I was trying not to hurt her and to do so, I had to let myself being hit. There's nothing that a good night sleep won't erase. However, I preferred to be me the one in a healing process than having her with bruises. I don't think those would come up as a point in my favor the moment we go through medical inspection when we return," she lowered the shirt as there was a knock on their door. They both frowned. Since she was on her feet already, she walked towards the door and opened it a couple of inches.

"Doctor Jackson?" she asked seeing him at her door.

"Ah, can we talk?" She nodded.

"Let me put something more decent on, and I meet you at the library, Doctor."

"Oh, okay," he added.

"Unless you don't mind speaking in front of William?" He shook his head no, "Give me a moment," she added closing the door. "Will can you open him the door?" she asked him as she grabbed her bag and entered the bathroom. Will looked at his outfit, and thanked he hadn't gotten ready to bed as she was. But now he saw the marks he knew why she was willing to try and sleep.

"Doctor Jackson," He greeted the other man as he opened the door feeling a little self-conscious when the Doctor scanned him from head to toes. "She's changing; she will be out in no time. Please come in," Will pointed to the chairs that occupied a side of the room.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," Daniel added a bit self-consciously.

"Ah, you didn't interrupt anything but her preparing for bed. And knowing I still have to shower that means she was going to steal my side and use the better light to read whatever she's reading at the moment until I'm done," Will explained with a grin, "what are you doing here?"

"I… we were talking before Sam asked her to fight, and I got a question that needs an answer. I tried to," he stopped as Helen came out of the bathroom. She looked around they both were taking a seat using the only two chairs in the room. Therefore she sat on the bed's end. "I went to sleep, but the question wouldn't leave me alone," Helen smiled. Will looked at her and she could see he was worried about what the archeologist might want to know.

"Then ask away, Doctor Jackson. Sleep eluded us long enough to put some more distance between it and us."

"When I asked about me, you told replied with when I searched for you for the lecture or when I recommended you to Catherine? I'm wondering…" he trailed

"What did I mean by it?" She asked, and he nodded. "While I risk to tell you something that I'm might be bound to repeat later, I'm going to answer that one to you, Doctor Jackson. As you already know, the Sanctuary was aware of the reality of the Stargate before the program existed."

"Yes, you mentioned it was a Sanctuary property before it was Langford property."

"Well, I've known Catherine for a long while. When she decided to start working again on the Stargate, she thought she could do it without my help, or without me knowing about it."

"But you knew."

"I did. I also knew it wasn't the first attempt at trying to understand it," Helen added making Daniel raise his eyebrow. "There was a lot of information pointing the disappearance of Ernest Littlefield to an accident with the Stargate. Anyways, when the talk to start the project again was brought forth, Catherine was the first name to be attached to it. It made sense, it was her father's work, and her fiancé's work, if someone could make head or tails of the works they did it was bound to be her."

"So the project reopened."

"Yes, keeping her in the dark about some data they did understand, they started to plan how to create a way to power it up."

"Sam's project," Daniel added making Helen frown. "Sam was in charge of setting up a way to start the gate and to interface with it. She had her theories about the gate, and that was what allowed her to finish the details."

"I didn't know that," Helen frowned.

"It's something wrong?"

"No…" She shook herself to try and forget the rage that was building up inside her, Sam's presence in the Stargate Project should've raised a few flags with people she knew. Yet, she never knew about Sam Carter until they found each other in the sewers. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

"Well, I know Catherine searched for me because of my ideas and I ended up doing the correct translation and assuming the letters around the gate were a start chart of sorts. However, Sam had figured it out; her software was ready in less than two days because of her suspicions of what they might be led her to program it already, she only needed the final touches. I know she had some personal issues and that's why she didn't go through with Jack and I the first time."

"It appears I'm not as well informed as I thought I was," Helen smiled sadly. "I was contacted by not only Catherine but by people above the chain of command to let me know the project was starting. I gave them my position about it and what it could imply, but they didn't listen. And the project was rolled out. However, they couldn't find a way to translate the inscriptions correctly. Catherine called me when she gave up hope and asked me to leave my hiding post and help her with the translation."

"Then why I was called?"

"I was tied up in a mess of my own. And I considered this: if everything went right and at some point, people started to believe that aliens were not something to be hated and killed, then abnormals could stand a chance of being free shortly. If not, then, the long process was still going. I informed Catherine, I couldn't be spared. However, I also mentioned her that I knew a couple of exciting possibilities. Including you."

"And how did you know about me?"

"Oh, I remember asking the same question," Will added, "She knows a lot about an extended amount of people."

"I knew about you before you were born, Doctor Jackson. And I continued learning about you since the day your parents died," she added sadly. "They were close friends and very loving parents,  
Daniel's eyes widened, and she smiled. "Yes, I was Auntie Helen."

"You financed them," he frowned. "How?"

"That's part of the history I will hold, for now. However, I knew they started to teach you how to read hieroglyphs at a very young age. I followed your career ever since."

"That's why Tesla mentioned you probably know when I got .." he trailed, and she nodded.

"Yes, and as your parents and your grandparent before them, you didn't disappoint."

"Until the book," he added.

"I have a copy of it, and it's not disappointing at all. And at least from what I've been reading, you got most of your theories correct," Helen pointed.

"But people don't know that, and I'm still ridiculed among my peers," Daniel commented

"Yet, you know better. Anyhow, it was your book what made me steer Catherine towards you. She wasn't sure, at first, she thought your ideas were too out of the box. And I pointed that out of the box was exactly what she needed since not one of her squared minded workers had made any progress."

"And she came searching for me…"

"Yes."

"And the invitation years later?"

"I lost track of you; I don't like losing track of people I care about, and I found that the subject of that presentation was going to lift your spirits up. I know how hard is to fight the stigma of you being the fish living out of the pond even if you know they are only residing in a fish tank." She looked the confusion of her words across his face. "I simply needed you to show up to know you were faring well, and the subject seemed like something you would approve. Now, if you don't have more questions about this, I will ask you to retire Doctor. I really need to sleep."

"Yes, of course," he added still a bit pensive. "It's.."

"You must understand that memories are a funny thing when you remember, you bring forth the last time you remembered the situation and not the first time it happened. That's why details are lost as we try to remember more. It's just that," she smiled, and he nodded not quite convinced. He remembered a day with Auntie Helen even if he couldn't quite remember her face.

"Good night," he added shaking his head and moving towards the door.

"What's wrong?" Will asked the moment the door was closed.

"It's… if Sam was in the program, why I never knew about her?"

"Maybe, they thought she was you?" he offered.

"Do we have a radio?" He nodded, "And Ashley?" instead of nodding again he rummaged through the bag and threw a radio to her as soon as he found one. "Ashley?" she called over.

"Yeah, mom?" Ash answered a few moments later.

"It's Samantha with you?"

"I'm here."

"I just learned you worked on the creation of the supercomputer of the Stargate project," Helen commented.

"Yeah, cool right? I was amazed when they told me I was right on my theories."

"Did you meet Catherine back then?"

"Yes."

"And someone called Ryan Blaine?"

"Yes, why?"

"Ah, nothing. Good night, girls."

"Wait, when I met Ryan Blaine, he saluted me as if he knew me from forever. Then he mentioned something about me getting better at pretending not knowing him," Sam explained, and Helen could imagine the frown on her daughter's face.

"Huh, you might be correct, Will," she said to him chewing her lower lip.

"Catherine told me my USAF file was quite well put together. And it wasn't until she met my father that she stopped looking at me as she knew me." Sam's voice continued. "Wait, they thought I was you."

"It appears so."

"But when she met my father…"

"She didn't know I had you. There was no reason to believe we could be related." Helen whispered.

"Wait," Ashley interrupted them, "Are you saying that we didn't meet Sam earlier because they thought she was you?"

"That seems to be correct, Ashley," Helen commented, the three women sighed.

"Bloody hell…that sucks." Ashley added after a while

"Ashley! Manners."

"It is true, mom. Imagine all the time we would've had if you knew about her."

"It doesn't matter, girls. We have time now. Good night, tomorrow will be another long day."

"Night!"The two answered.

Helen sat staring the wall for a while, and Will gave her time to assimilate what she had just learned by disappearing to the shower. When he returned, he found her exactly where he had left her. He sat beside her.

"How are you?"

"Not okay," she whispered.

"You are thinking of the what if's," he affirmed, and she nodded. "You know that won't change the situation," she sighed.

"I know, Will. I know that all too well," she sighed. He saw the pained expression in her eyes, and he wanted to slap himself. Of course, she knew. She had to live most of her previous life avoiding making things different. She turned around to watch him and saw the guilty expression.

"Come," she added moving backward, "make it better holding me tonight." And that was exactly what he did.


	29. Chapter 29

I'm so, so, so sorry it took me so long. Seriously, I have no idea why I sent them to another planet, and I was got stuck with them xD. Anyhow, we are out of there and *crossing fingers* I'll be able to continue back at the SGC woohoo!

Enjoy!

M.

 **Chapter Twenty-Nine**

She groaned and huffed. Then, she frowned. She was pretty sure her body was the only one so adapted to the clock that didn't need one at all. Yet, she smiled when she heard the string of swear words which came from the other side of the bed.

"I'll take your mother doesn't know you know half of those, right?" Sam smiled turning around to watch over Ashley, who groaned at her.

"Ugh, as a matter of fact, she does." She answered, "learned them from her."

"Really?" Sam asked surprised. Magnus didn't seem like a swearing type

"Yup. She swears like a sailor if the situation is extreme," Ashley raised her head only to collapse against the pillow forcefully again groaning as she did.

"What's wrong?" Sam inquired worried by the chance that something might be going on with her sister and her weird DNA changes. Ashley observed her for a moment before adding "You."

"What? Why?" Sam asked touching her face to verify about what her sister was talking.

"You are a morning person!" She grunted. "I get it your biological pool was far better with my dad being controlled by Jack the Ripper energy thing, but how can you look so awake at this time of the day? So, mom…" she waved before closing her eyes once more. "Ugh!"

"Would you like me better if I take ownership of the bathroom and thus give you extra bed time that you can blame on me?" Ashley raised her head and looked at Sam as if she just had grown another head.

"Can you?" She grinned hopefully.

"Sure, you said it yourself. Morning person." Sam winked, and Ashley dropped her head again against her pillow.

"You are my savior!" She mumbled. Sam sat on the bed, the movement making Ashley groan and Sam giggled. The girl was sitting with tired eyes and not looking very friendly. Sam just chuckled at her expression which returned her a glare. The major bent over to tie her shoe laces when Ashley's hand connected with hers. "Wait for me," she pleaded.

"Huh?" Sam asked not quite understanding the petition, Ashley walked around and stood in front of her.

"Will you wait for me? I don't like how some of your friends look at me," she dismissed with a shrug. Sam nodded trying not to seem so shocked by the comment.

Ashley disappeared into the bathroom, and Sam frowned looking at nothing in particular. Ashley looked so comfortable in her skin that it shook Sam learning that the way her team looked at her influenced her self-esteem, even if it was a tiny fraction. She chewed her lip and finished getting ready and verified her watch, which told her that Jack and Teal'c would be already awake and probably were sitting in the cafeteria.

"Ash?" Sam called as she heard her sister turning the water down.

"Yup? I'm coming!" The girl shouted and got out toweling her hair. "Hum? I'm almost ready."

"I didn't want to hurry you…." Ashley frowned, Sam huffed, having a sister was starting to look more complicated than she thought it would.

"What you've said before, about my friends looking at you … is it?" Sam bit her lower lip not quite knowing how to phrase it. Ashley bit her lower lip not knowing how to explain it. They smiled when they noticed the similar reaction to opposite situations.

"I.." she sighed. "Look, I grew up surrounded by people like me, like us. But back then I was not only a kid, but I was also a human and the daughter of the boss, don't get me wrong, that had its perks like not being bullied at all. But, then when I returned," she stopped for a second to see if Sam understood what she meant by that. Sam nodded.

"Well, I was different, and people looked at me differently. I got used to it, yes. They were never afraid of me. But it took them a while in an environment full of abnormals to be used to me and the possibility that I could go haywire at any moment without that much of an announce. So, I get it; I get the way they look at me. They know I won't hurt them that's for sure, or your Colonel would've put a bullet through my forehead when I made him appear by the gate. But, they still are a bit wary of me, and you don't. Therefore, having you, there is a reassurance not only for them but me. Does that make any sense?"

"I guess it does. You want to belong, but belonging takes time. That's nothing out of the ordinary actually." Sam frowned at the philosophical turn the morning was taking.

"I told you, I was a human once! Now, can we stop with the mopey conversation and have breakfast? I'm starving!"

They walked the corridors with purpose, quickly finding their way to the mess hall which still was quite empty. Except for Jack, Teal'c, and Daniel who were sitting on a table close to the door and Tesla and Will who were sitting on the other side of the room. Ashley walked purposely towards Tesla, Sam following her close behind.

"Hey, Vlad. Where's mom?" He smirked.

"As if you don't know your mother," Ashley rolled her eyes. "Oh, you know, dear. How she doesn't that too well being idle."

"You aren't answering my question," she huffed annoyed.

"You Magnus woman have no patience at all!" he sighed. "In the kitchen, doing something useful with her hands." He waved.

"What's she doing in the kitchen?" Sam asked.

"Magnus has a knack for cutting things, you know, the surgeon in her. Alas… She went to help. And you Miss Magnus are definitively your father's daughter. So grumpy in the mornings," he mocked glared at Ashley.

"Tesla." Will warned.

"I knew the man, William. Hell! You saw him a couple of times and let me tell you, if you believe he was scary regularly, you would've found him frightening early mornings. Come to think about; I still don't know for sure whatever was that Helen saw in him," He added pensively. Ashley rolled her eyes and walked away.

Sam watched the exchange with a raised eyebrow and heard something about Nikola just being jealous before nodding to her team and following Ashley to the other side of the room. Oh yes, she wanted to go to her team's table and seat with them and joke around Daniel's inability to keep up with the mornings, but she was extremely curious as to what would be her mother doing in a kitchen.

"Well, there was little chance for you not to be a morning person, Samantha. However, I'm still surprised you are up and about Ashley." Helen's voice cut through the noises of the kitchen so did Ashely's groan.

"Yeah, you could've made me one or the other not both at the same time. That would've made my life easier. But no, I'm pained during mornings, but I can't sleep past my internal clock time. You do know there's a lot of people wondering where you are, right?" Ashley asked leaning against the counter next to where Helen was quickly cutting fruit with surgical precision.

"Well, then I must go out now," she lowered her knife. "Good morning Darling," she smiled and placed a quick kiss on Ashley's cheek before turning towards Sam, and doing the same. "I hope you got a good night sleep?" She prodded as she took off the gloves she was given to manage the food.

"Short," Ashley rolled her eyes again. Helen chuckled while washing her hands.

"I always assumed my internal clock was trained on me by my dad," Sam whispered looking around to make sure no one overheard.

"For the military timing, you mean?" Helen asked, and Sam nodded.

"Ah, sorry to disappoint. Both Nikola and I are not very prone to sleep long." She explained as they grabbed their trays. "Nikola needs even less sleeping time than I do, he always did. I wondered how he managed before but then when the results of our … Experiment… Came, it was easily understood that he could live with less sleep and less food due to his genetical makeup. While I never managed to oversleep past the fifth hour, he could easily do with two or three. Now, he can go up to a week without sleep, providing the right environment."

"And you?"

"Well, as we told you before, once you get enthralled by something it's harder to lose the connection. However, I collapse for five hours on day three, unless I … well, drug myself not to and that gives me another four or five days. But at the end of it, I can collapse for a whole morning," She shrugged. "Anyway, it's not the most commendable thing to do, but if it needs to be done, then I must do it."

"I get it."

"I thought you would," Helen smiled. Sam frowned, "I've read your files, there's a quite interesting one in which you've exhausted yourself to create a particle beam to rescue certain Colonel from being stranded." Sam blushed. "We do things for the people we love, Samantha. It's fairly natural. Especially if your mind can create something as complex as a particle beam. Or a way to transport a conscience out of an energy stream. We will exhaust our bodies to reach what our minds designed as possible. Good morning," she nodded as they reached the SG-1 table. "Thank you for taking care of my daughter, Major. Have an excellent breakfast." She winked as she noticed Sam's indecision between following them or joining her team. "I reckon you must find a need of talking with your pairs after being stranded with one of us for the night."

"It was no problem at all, Doctor."

"Very well, then. I let you be, and I will join my crew." Helen finished turning and not giving them time to argue, not that they would've had.

"Morning guys! How did you sleep?" she greeted them, and they all answered back looking closely and waiting for the other two women to be far away from their table.

"What did she meant with taking care of her daughter?" Daniel asked pushing his glasses. He typically avoided his contacts in the mornings when he didn't get that much time to sleep.

"I don't know," she dismissed with a shrug. "I fell asleep and woke up before she did. She did groan and complained about being too early to rise. It reminded me of those few trips in which I shared tents with you, Daniel," she joked.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Daniel nodded before gulping his coffee.

"So what kept you?" Jack asked. And Sam frowned, O'Neill tapped his watch, and she checked hers.

"Ah, she asked me to wait for her to come, I think she didn't know for sure how to get here. Are we questioning me now, sir?" she asked before eating a spoonful of eggs.

"Do we need to?" Daniel asked looking at Jack. Sam shook her head no.

"Not really," she shrugged for what seemed to be the umpteen time in the morning.

"Did you learn something about them?" Jack asked trying not to sound too exasperated with the situation.

"Ashley Magnus is not a morning person. Helen Magnus doesn't like to sit around and wait while doing nothing. Does that help at all?" She asked knowing it didn't. "I swear! There's not much that I know that you don't know already."

"There has to be something! You've been glued to their side since we found them," Jack complained hitting the table.

"Jack," Daniel warned.

"Sorry, it's just this situation. It's so damn frustrating. It seems to me that every time we are about to learn some truth from them, something happens and we sit on the side waiting once again. It's like a bad series where the writers don't know how to make it to the end of the season and keep doing this dumb arcs!" he huffed frustrated.

"I didn't know you watched tv series?" Daniel raised his head.

"This is SGC, SG-1, please contact," their radio crackled, Jack groaned.

"See what I mean? We were this far from starting the morning meeting and now…." He trailed, showing them less than an inch with his fingers, "This far," he added before pressing his radio. "This is Colonel O'Neill."

"Colonel O'Neill. General Hammond requests the return of SG-1 and guest to SGC. A.S.A.P"

"Roger. You will hear from us to return."

"SGC disengaging."

"Well, you heard," Jack huffed. "I swear this is the last time I let them go without them giving some explanations." He muttered, before standing up and moving towards their guest to provide them with the news.

"What's wrong with him?" Sam asked.

"You are the one who knows him the best, Sam. You tell us." Daniel shrugged making her sigh.

"Is this still because I asked him to take those meds? I mean, for once, it didn't backfire." She chewed her lower lip.

"Really?" Daniel commented. She pinched her the bridge of her nose when she saw both Daniel and Teal'c raising their eyebrows.

"Then tell me."

"You can be very dense when you want to be, can't you?" Daniel shook his head. "He is worried about you Sam. You've been spending a hell of a lot of time with them, and you are not sharing what you learn. We all know you know something and you won't tell us. Something that makes you bond with them. I get it, trust me. You need time to let whatever that is sink. But Jack," Daniel moved forward a little, "he is afraid of losing you, Sam." He whispered.

"What? That doesn't even start to make sense, Daniel."

"Doesn't?" Daniel raised an eyebrow, and so did Teal'c.

"No." She shook her head.

"Okay, then reassure him in the way only you can, and everything will be back to how it was. Or at least, he will be back to his usual self. Now, you heard the radio; we should start moving."

An hour later they were getting closer to the gate. And if Jack had to point something he found something satisfying about the group of weird people who were dumped on him, it was the quick way they packed and the way they moved in packs. It took them around twenty minutes to gear up and be ready. And then they left, none of them complained about the fast pace SG-1 made them keep and it looked like they weren't even breaking a sweat yet.

In fact, he could almost see Doctor Magnus skipping instead of just walking. He frowned, they were walking on a very tight pace, but she and Tesla seemed extremely comfortable with it and with the sun which wasn't cutting them a break. And she had a faint smile probably due to the way her friend, the Tesla guy, was complaining about both the pace and the sun and telling something about hating showers. But what caught his attention, even more, was the fact that Helen Magnus was walking alongside him when she was all but avoiding him earlier.

"I wasn't avoiding you, Colonel. Not per se." She explained out of the blue, and he frowned. "I thought I should give you some time to find out more before you got to your conclusions. I hope you found what you learned as interesting data at least."

"I can't say I didn't. We are still far away from digging all your secrets out, and trust me I plan to get them out." Jack warned, and Helen smiled.

"We will see about that, as I've said before. It's far from the first time someone attempts to achieve that, and it's far from being the last attempt I will go through."

"Why are you so damn cryptic? If you supposedly are trying to let us know things? To 'help us'" He quoted with his fingers.

"I'm not cryptic, Colonel. I'm simply timing it to let it out in a way I don't need to repeat myself." She smiled

"Carter, dial home." He ordered they got close to the DHD.

"Yes, sir." Sam's voice reached him as she jogged towards the DHD, he followed her movements keeping his eyes trained on her. He was about to continue walking when a hand stopped him. He frowned at the hand and at the way the Doctor was looking at him.

"What are you smiling at?" Colonel O'Neill asked she tilted her head.

"I'm finally pleased with the outcome of my death," Helen stated, and he frowned in confusion since she was very much alive.

"Are you telling me you are sick?"

"No, I'm an extremely healthy person. However, I used to think a lot about dying, and I had a cause which wouldn't allow me to die and rest in peace, sort to speak. Now, I can answer the question honestly. If I were to die in a few minutes, I would finally die in peace having done all the things I wanted to do and have loved the ones I loved freely. Now, you, Colonel. You as I, are a man of action, what would your answer be?"

"That's nonsense," he grumped. Teal'c was looking at them from the gate, holding his staff weapon to keep it open.

"Is it? Or are you just afraid that you won't be remembered? Or afraid that the one you love will never have the chance of knowing the benefits of loving a man like you?" he raised his eyebrow and pointed Teal'c to cross.

"You have no idea of what you are saying, ma'am." He glared at her his eyes blazing, but she merely smirked.

"Don't I? Oh, trust me, Colonel. I've been there, at the edge of the do or do not. And it's quite the challenge. Let me confess you something since we are being honest and all that… You are going to die, not today and maybe not tomorrow. But you are going to die, just like I will someday."

"We are not eternal; we are nothing but a succession of death and rebirth. Not a single piece of you is the same it was when you were born, Colonel. Humans, nature in general… It was all created to die; it was all set up to survive. One cell divides in two and then those in four, yet, the primary cell doesn't exist any longer. And it's forgotten, we forget that we are constantly dying cells, that our time will come, for some like me it's far more complex, but we all are going to see the end." He braced himself stubbornly.

"I've had plenty of days, and yet I can die tomorrow, and I'm ready for that. By comparison, you only have a handful, yet, are you willing to let go? To let her go? Are you really willing to die with an 'I love you' that never got a chance to be said? And what's worse, if you are… Have you considered the ones you leave behind? Have you considered how she's going to feel? For once, also think about the man not only about you and rules and regulations. Think about her and what she will feel if you are gone in a blink of an eye, and she never gets to know how it feels being yours." With that, she crossed the gate leaving him utterly dumbfounded.

"What the hell that was supposed to mean?" he muttered to himself, before finally crossing the gate.

"Welcome back, SG-1," Hammond stirred him out of his thoughts. "Get changed, settle the guests back and check yourselves in the infirmary."

Daniel frowned looking at Jack who seemed lost in thought, wondering what the hell happened in those few minutes he and Doctor Magnus were the only ones on the other side.

"What's going on?" He cautiously asked once he thought they were out of hearing range.

"Nothing, just something she said." He pointed towards the now closed door of Helen's and Will VIP room.

"What was it? Did she offend you or confessed something?" Daniel frowned.

"No… it's. I guess it's just her being weird. Or maybe even keeping a character," Jack added scrubbing his face tiredly.

"I'm not following you, Jack," Daniel pushed.

"You know, how she says, 'old friend' or how she felt 'very flattered' when the relationship between Ashley's and her age was done?" Daniel nodded. "Well, she told me she had plenty of days while I had only a handful. I wonder what the hell she was trying to say when she said that."

"Maybe that she was always free to do whatever she wants and you are stuck with the orders?" Daniel offered.

"Yeah, maybe is that." He answered, and they waited in silence for the doors to open so they could escort them back to the Infirmary room. Janet was expecting them with a knowing glance and a raised eyebrow, and Jack flinched. Sometimes he wondered how much did Janet like to pick and prod them just for fun.

"Colonel O'Neill, let me start with you. General Hammond called and wanted you and Doctor Magnus to report back to his office ASAP." They nodded and moved to the beds, "Sam, they need you in the lab, Kaplan with take your blood, and we will recall you for further tests once we are free."

Sam nodded and moved to lay in the bed that was next to the one Jack was in, while a nurse was taking her vitals and blood. And that added to the conversation he had with Magnus made him frown. 'Think about her and what she will feel if you are gone in a blink of an eye, and she never gets to know how it feels being yours' Jack heard Helen ask him over and over again in his mind. And while at it, his poor brain was trying to tell him he knew something else, but he couldn't pin point what it was. All he knew was that it had to do with Alternate Carter.

Half an hour later Doctor and Colonel were walking towards the General's office. Jack is trying hard not to be bothered by the slight smile on her face and the way she owned the corridor as if it was her rightful place to be there. They were a few meters away from the office when he was done. He grabbed her by the arm and forced her against the cold wall, and glared at her.

And she didn't even flinch.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You should be at least scared!"

"It's called life experience, Colonel. I have plenty of that. Now, can you tell me why I'm being held and glared? And why I'm supposed to be scared of you?"

"What are you keeping from me?" He asked.

"Many things, but for some reason, I believe you know something that no one else knows… I'm intrigued to know what it is... I guess we both have some A's hidden under our sleeves, right?" She grinned. They heard steps approaching, and he let her go. "Shall we then?"

He knocked Hammond's office not two minutes later, and they entered swiftly. The General offered them the chairs, and neither of them took it, making the bald man sigh. Two stubborn people.

"Why are we here, General?"

"SCIU," Hammond affirmed

"I was right, wasn't I? They went through your base and files."

"No, not really, Major Carter did an excellent work protecting our network and servers. They never managed to break her code. Now, they did have some interesting facts about you, Doctor Magnus. And they are quite eager in getting their hands on you if you happen to be alive which apparently you still aren't." Helen left out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Thank you General; I can promise it will be worth it."

"And I can guarantee the moment you decide to hold something from us; I'm pretty sure Colonel O'Neill will have no qualms about getting you to them if it is an order." Jack flinched, he wasn't sure he would be able to do it, even if he didn't entirely trust the woman he wasn't about to send her to a group who would not hesitate in torture the woman.

"Is that why we are here, General? You can warn me and order him about the future possible outcome?"

"Yes."

"Seeing that I can't say torture is my cup of tea, we shall start the meeting when we can."

"Very well then, Colonel escort the good Doctor to her room so she can get her things and then find both teams and bring them here."

They walked to her room again, this time at a calmer pace. It seemed that the possibility of having to decide her fate had affected Jack more than he wanted to admit.

"Doctor Jackson," Helen greeted him.

"Doctor Magnus, ah, Doctor Zimmerman needed something from your room. He is inside." He pointed.

"Thank you for the information, Doctor. Excuse me," she finished disappearing inside the room.

"What's going on?"

"I have a sense of déjà vu," Jack told him, and Daniel chuckled shaking his head. "We are having the famous meeting. Once they pick what they need, I have to escort the two of them back to the briefing room. Then find the rest of them and us and return to the briefing room."

"Oh, I can bring them to the briefing room. Sam took Tesla and Henry to her lab."

"Really?"

"They might be helpful, she said," he grinned. "But I can tell it was because Tesla was driving Janet insane…"

"Oh well, since I have the feeling those other two guys might be more of an issue than these two, please take them. What about T and the girl?"

"Ah, actually, I might have to take Doctor Magnus back to the infirmary, I almost forgot. T and Ashley were waiting for her to get some blood out of the girl and avoid the issue from last time."

"I see. Okay, as long as we can all be at the briefing room asap… I guess there's no other way."

"Go, you are worried they are with Sam. I'll take care of these two."

 **Sam's Lab**

 **"** Hey, Carter! … Tesla, Henry" he said shooting dagger to them, "What? No third stodge?" he joked.

"Ha! And that comment comes from the one person in this lab with the lowest IQ. Go figure," Tesla commented trying to push the right buttons. Sam glared at him, and something in him felt wrong.

"Colonel, sir… can I do something for you?" Sam said turning towards Jack, and effectively interrupting them before they could start some kind of macho war.

'A fight between your biological father and the man you love' her mind provided and she wanted nothing more than to roll her eyes this side of her.

"Actually, yes… Can we talk? Alone?" Jack asked, bringing her back from her unexpected thoughts.

"Oh, go ahead, we can take care of ourselves and make some incredible advances with these," Nikola said with an eager look that was too mischievous for Sam's like.

"Well, let me get someone to look after them."

"Oh, and here I was thinking she might cut us some slack after solving four riddles that she couldn't solve," Tesla pouted. Henry and Sam glared at him.

"Not in the slightest," she added as she took the phone and called someone.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I never said that I wasn't an annoying genius!" Tesla smirked.

"Oh don't worry, we all figured that one out, Mister Genius," Jack grinned.

"Again, coming from the lowest IQ in the room…" Nikola rolled his eyes.

"At least…" Jack started as Doctor Felger, and two airmen rushed to Sam's lab. He tried not to glare at the new man joining the room, but rushing man was something always happened when Sam placed the call.

Noticing him distracted, Sam grabbed the Colonel by the arm, and half dragged him outside under the amused eyes of her biological dad while glaring at the abnormal man.

'He was so doing it on purpose' she thought as they walked a bit further away from her lab to keep ears out of their conversation.

"Ok, we are ready to go now, sir. How can I help you?"

"I… " he frowned not quite knowing how to explain it. It was a hunch, and yes, she was used to his hunches, but they rarely needed her explaining something to him. They were always more action prone feelings.

"Sir?"

"Ah," he scratched the back of his neck. "It is that you are the only scientist who can make me understand scientific thingies," he looked embarrassed

"Does it have anything to do with our guesses?"

"No… well, kind of…"

"Yes or no, sir?" she frowned.

"Well, something that Doctor Magnus … It doesn't matter. I just need you to explain something to me, it's been in my head all day, and it's driving me mad!"

"Ok… what is it?" She asked worrying her lower lip.

"Do you know what a linchpin is?"

"Seriously, that is your question?"

"Yes," she frowned and then huffed.

"Well, is a fastener used to prevent a wheel or other rotating part from sliding off the axle upon which it is riding; I think that I have one on my desk if you need to see it?" She said going back in and searching through shelves, "Here, sir, this is the linchpin that I have. Is it right for you, sir?" She said passing the thing to him.

"Yeah, I guess," he said grabbing the thing and looking at it oddly. It certainly wasn't what he was expecting.

"Oh, Magnus and I had a friend that called Linchpin to one of his theories," Nikola muttered just to be his annoying self.

"Go on," Jack asked as all eyes fell on him. Nikola huffed as all eyes moved from Jack to him.

"Well, James, my friend. He theorized that every once in a while, a Linchpin exists that can change everything we know of with one decision alone."

"Really? Tell me more," Sam said interested, Jack sighed saved from having to ask more. And Nikola nodded.

"Well, James called this person a Linchpin because of these," he said grabbing the thing from Jack's hand and rotating it. "According to him, every significant step in the history of mankind can be attached to one person, and if the one doesn't choose wisely, it triggers a series of events that shouldn't happen and that can lead to the end of humanity as we know it."

"I don't think that is possible, how would someone be responsible for the whole mankind?" Sam asked

"He put it quite simply. The Linchpin doesn't know that the future of the world is in their hands. For them, it is only a matter of personal decision. If you gave it a thought, it is entirely possible. Take into consideration what we learned when we spoke of the Tok'ra. There's a high probability that the mother of them was a Linchpin…" he trailed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Course! She chose to be good and change the world with that if she didn't….Well, who knows where we would be now." Sam explained to the others.

"Well, it is a so damn fascinating history lesson. But if you are all ready, we should get back to the briefing room. Daniel was getting Doctors Magnus and Zimmerman to the infirmary to finish with Ashley Magnus' tests. They should be going down by now."

"So are we ready to continue then?"

"We aren't the ones interrupting you." Jack hissed.

"No, but you did kickstart the last interruption."

"Maybe Colonel O'Neill is a linchpin," Henry offered pensively. Nikola looked at him then at the two officers he had around and smirked.

"Oh, no! You've got it wrong Heinrich" He commented gaining a wondering glance from the HAP. "If someone is a linchpin in this group… It isn't Colonel O'Neill," Tesla thought while he smirked.


	30. Chapter 30

Ah… This week technology is angry at me. My notebook drive died, and for some reason, the chapter 30 I wrote (it took me two weeks) decided it wouldn't open anymore. So, this is not the version I intended to post … But hey, at least is a version, right? (Not that I'm too happy with it.)

Enjoy!

M.

 **Thirty**

 **Conference Room**

 **Magnus POV**

After being walked to the infirmary to avoid another ill attempt on obtaining Ashley's blood, we found our way back to the Conference Room. This one is a little more private than the Briefing room we used before, and I guess it's a form of preventing interruptions.

When we arrived, General Hammond and Catherine were already there waiting for us, although we are still missing part of our teams. Catherine observes me with a look I know; she wants to talk. I smile at her, but I know that at this point, every word I say is being carefully watched by the SGC members.

"You better not forget what we talked about, Doctor," General Hammond warns me, and I look at him. I find rare that his warning came the moment I can hear the voices of the missing members. I nod at him and try to keep a careful watch over him. If my theory is correct, he might have an abnormal hearing range. But I'm distracted out my mind when the doors open, and I can see them, and for a reason, I can't help but feel alleviated.

This feeling may be related to the fact Will had informed me that Samantha took them to her lab. And I much as Nikola geniality was preexistent to his abnormal nature, it is also true that his fondness to exploding things was there too when I first met him. However, as no alarms were raised, I hope it means he managed to control himself.

Henry enters first, and by the smile that is still on his face, I know they've been enjoying the time in Samantha's lab. He is wearing this expression he has when he manages to solve something. Nikola follows, the smirk on his face tells me more than enough, I raise an eyebrow at him, and he returns me a wink. I only need a look at the Colonel to see why and how he managed to keep his mind distracted.

Colonel O'Neill holds the door opened for Sam, and the mix between the way his jaw is clenched, his chest puffed and the glare Nikola is getting, I'm more than willing to bet that Nikola had managed to make the man extremely jealous of him. I shook my head, and I can't help but feel a bit of pity for the poor Colonel who has no idea that his reaction to the man has no basis. But of course, how he would know that Nikola is only teasing him to check if he is worthy of the daughter he never got to raise.

"Let's hope we won't be interrupted again," General Hammond voices as they sit. And Nikola chuckles.

"Excuse me if I remind you, that all the interruptions originated in your team, General. First, the test that couldn't be helped. Ashley's issue was a result of your people not listening to our warnings. Added to that, then they went and drug Helen. And lastly, somehow it occurred to them that shaking the barn wouldn't affect the haystack. And we had to flee, so please, explain me again why should we feel your advice as a threat?" Nikola inquiries.

"Nikola, there's no need to be impolite. I believe he is just showing some concern," I say. "Shall we begin?"

"Well, first let me tell you that we have received your test results. And no matter how much you two said you are abnormals, there's nothing in your blood to prove it." Doctor Frasier says rearranging the files in her hands. Nikola and I share a smile, "What?"

"Their results came back as normal?" Samantha asks with this hint of incredulity in her tone.

"Yes, that's expected." I tranquilize her.

"We call it Species Protection," Nikola grins, and I roll my eyes, his naming skills are poor, to say the least.

"The reason why you didn't find anything on us is what was defined as a protection method. To put it simply, our blood 'dies' out of our body."

"Yes, that happens with all blood." Janet points.

"Exactly, the average duration of red cells is around 32 to 45 days. However, we are not talking about the duration of cells, you'll see. For us, cells, no matter which kind, never stop mitosis or cell division," I clarify just in case. "One cell of our body only dies when the resulting copies are perfect, a difference and the failed copies are the ones disposed. This process is thousands of times faster than the average mitosis. However, it can be seen under the microscope during a short period and the proper means."

"Alas, without the proper means of containing our blood, which is different from the way you keep yours. They revert to a more primitive form of mitosis by slowing down the process, and thus, it looks like nothing uncommon for the human eye. If our blood reached your microscope in a matter of minutes after the extraction, then you would've seen something completely different." Nikola explains.

"It was marked as priority."

"Well, for what we can see your priority still took over two hours after the extraction. As we already told you is not your fault, the means to keep it as if it were still inside our bodies are not among the things you have. Or know."

"I'm sorry Doctor Magnus, I'm not following you," Hammond squints at me. I look at him, and he shifts under the weight of my glance. He's not interested in our biology, and I wouldn't be if I were him.

"What's that you want to know, General? It might be faster if you, all or any of you, point what do you need or want to know."

"What are you?" Doctor Frasier asks.

"I am abnormal." They look at each other, and yes, I could've given more information.

"You told us before the Sanctuary is your family responsibility..." Doctor Jackson trails, then he sighs. "Were they all the members of your family abnormals?"

"No." I shook my head. "I am the first abnormal in my tree line."

"What about him?" Colonel O'Neill asks pointing to Tesla

"I am half human, half Akhkharu," He shrugs.

"What the hell is an Akh…" O'Neill starts to asks

"Akhkharu? That is not possible," Doctor Jackson interrupts him.

"Why is that not possible, Daniel?" Samantha asks intrigued.

"Well, per what I know, the Akhkharu lived on Earth until they became extinct. Histories of this supposedly powerful race became hard to find. They were all but wiped as part of known history."

"Ah, the Dark Ages," Nikola sighed. "We became nothing more than myths, urban legends… But the name has lasted up to our days. However, Doctor, in almost all languages the name evolved too."

"It's possible to find information about them, they cleaned the Akhkharu's, but they left behind information about the sanguine vampiris. And it's impossible not to know about them, especially nowadays. There are a couple of books about them that became quite popular."

"Yeah, thank you, Dear Bram, for painting us completely wrong," Nikola mutters.

 _"_ Bram? Excuse me, but are you saying that the Akhkharu are Vampires?" Doctor Jackson chuckles. And we simply stare at him. "How?"

"It's all in my blood," Nikola adds dramatically.

"Wow, so you drink blood?" The archeologist asks

"Well, not really. I don't like the way it tastes, and it ruins my palate I prefer wine."

"Nikola!" I warn him to stop talking. No matter how well Doctor Jackson seems to be taking him. The others are looking at him in that way. The one in which they are trying to decide if they want us in a mental hospice or with our heads in stakes.

"Look! It's not like it sound," Will tries to save the mess. "Bram Stoker just spiced up a little the history, mixing what he knew of the Akhkharu behavior with Vlad Dracula history. Just like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did with his friend to write Sherlock Holmes."

"I don't see how Sherlock Holmes and Dracula are related," General Hammonds points out, and Colonel O'Neill scrubs his face tiredly.

"Bram Stoker was friends with an Akhkharu and Conan Doyle with an HEI. They based their characters in traits of abnormals they knew. The same happened to The Invisible Man," Will attempted to explain.

"That doesn't help to clarify," Ashley adds, and I must agree with her. I close my eyes for a while considering my options. I look around the table, and I make my decision.

"Well, I guess we should stop the questioning and start from the beginning. Otherwise, you won't be able to grasp the facts fully."

"From the beginning? Of the Sanctuary?" Catherine asks.

"No, dear. From the Beginning of Earth."

 **Conference Room**

"From the beginning of Earth?" O'Neill raised his eyebrow. "You are not going to try and convince us we all come from abnormals."

"Not quite," she smiled mischievously. "I'm joking, Colonel. Doctor Jackson was introduced to the knowledge of the Akhkharu when he was in our conference."

"I'm not quite sure if you remember something about it or if you were there only to try and find out more about Helen." Nikola squinted.

"What?"

"We have back doors in every agency around the globe along with alarms for special searches. You raised every one of them back then. Searching for Magnus, Nikola just found out that the Doc knew this," Henry commented with a shrug.

"I..." Daniel started, Helen raised her hand to stop him.

"It doesn't matter; it is in the past after all." Magnus smiled. "Now, let's go back to ten thousands of years ago. Earth was populated by two bigger races The Akhkharu and the humans; the firsts were more advanced than the humans by the time the Anquietas arrived."

"Anquietas?" Jack frowned.

"Ancients…" Daniel explained.

"The Anquietas, came to Earth after their division occurred. In this species, separation occurred when part of them wanted to control all beings by means of their religion 'The Origin.' And there was a second group which was devoted to the sciences and living in harmony respecting the will of all the living beings. The second group took the name of Lanteans which means people of science and called the others the Ori's."

"I've never heard of the Ori's before." Daniel pointed.

"We don't know much about them either," Magnus confirmed. "What we do know, is along with the Lanteans a couple of Ori's managed to get themselves on the ship that arrived at Terra."

"Earth?" Helen nodded.

"Even with Ori's among their ranks, Lanteans made a home in Terra. However, even if they found themselves very fond of the two younger races they decided not to interrupt the course of their evolution. But the Akhkharu were insistent, and their minds were developed in a way similar to those of the Lanteans, and they found a way to convince the aliens to teach them what they knew about the sciences."

"One day, a plague reached Terra. A disease as they never knew before, Lanteans started to fall one by one. The Akhkharu attempted to save them, but their knowledge in healing wasn't as good. And a decision was made, the healthy Lanteans boarded their ship and left. And that's what we now know as the Myth of Atlantis."

"Many years later, the Lanteans feeling curious about the races they left behind, reached Terra. They found several cities rules by Akhkharu in a way similar to what they had taught them."

"The history we know is as follows," Daniel said, Helen nodded, and he wet his lips before continuing. "The Ancients, one of the most advanced races of our galaxy, made Earth their home. We know that in some way they brought the human race to life, and afterward, some of them formed families with their creation. While some of them decided to ascend, others remained until the day they had to choose between dead and ascension. We know that at some point the Goa'uld arrived and took Egypt as theirs. And as the Ancients who ascend can't intervene on the lower planes of existence, the Goa'uld took hosts and invaded the Earth taking humans as slaves and moving them to other points of the Galaxy. That invasion didn't last long as human organized and fought against them and finally managed to expel them from Earth. Finally, they buried the gate and covered it with the massive rock and the warning, and that's the way it was found." Daniel says talking extremely fast.

"Well, you are almost correct," Magnus says

"Almost?"

"Yes. The truth is as we said, Lanteans arrived at a populated Earth. Humans already existed as a species, they weren't created by Ancients," Nikola says, "Is on their second coming when they bring the Stargates with them."

"Stargates? In plural?" Sam frowns.

"Yes, four of them to be exact," Nikola shrugs. "One was placed in Egypt, one in Rome, one in the depths of the pole and one was placed in Praxis. But Stargates aren't important, at least not if you know the location of all of them."

"What do you mean?"

"Human safety." He answered, but he only got a frown from Sam. "Well, the connection is dual, you can't connect to the same door when it is already opened. But with four options available, you can come through from any of them at any time." Tesla looked at his daughter who had a confused expression and sighed. "You know how it works. Six constellations to define the address and one as the point of origin. The eight symbol can be used either to connect galaxies or to jump between Stargate's placed on the same planet. Sadly, the part where they explained what was the ninth for was destroyed by water."

"Are you serious?" Sam asked him.

"You didn't know this?"

"No… we thought it was impossible to have two gates in the same world until we found the second one. But we know only one can be opened at the same time."

"Yes, that would be true without the eight symbol to specify from which part of the point of origin are you creating the connection."

"You do know where the other two are, right?" Will asked.

"We… the other two?"

"Of course, you have one here. And we have one blocked back in the Sanctuary. That means two are still missing."

"We found the one in the pole."

"Well, then lets hope the last one is buried under a pile of dust," Helen commented. "Back to our history lesson, The Goa'uld arrived using the four points of entry, sadly humans' cities were the ones closer to the gates. And they quickly overtook them."

"Knowing the situation, some Ancients evolved into beings of light. Some flew by Stargate and few, the ones with families mostly, decided to remain. The Akhkharu saw the devastation of this aliens to the world and escaped the cities. And humans, well, they didn't stand a chance."

"Akhkharu and Ancients found themselves powerless, even if they wanted to help, evolving meant they wouldn't be able to intervene. And the Akhkharu weren't enough to help the humans. But they both had something they humans didn't, advanced knowledge of the sciences."

"With the humans in mind, together they found a way to obtain the benefits of evolving without having to become a light being. However, the experiment with volunteer humans was catastrophic. They couldn't survive the change. One ancient volunteered, even when they knew they were too close to humans' DNA structure to be able to pull it through. Then, when they thought all was lost, one Akhkharu volunteered in the name of science…" she trailed.

"And the experiment was a success. She became immortal. Her already stronger body became more powerful, and her health was improved. They tested to see if there was a way for her to control her body with a Goa'uld inside. What they found was shocking, she absorbed the symbiont and was never affected by it."

"Then one by one all the pure blood Akhkharu, the only ones who could survive the procedure, changed. And they convinced the Goa'ulds to take over their more resilient bodies. And succeeding in killing the Goa'ulds and retaking control of Earth in this peaceful way. Such is the reason behind being named the Protectors."

"That's not what we know." Daniel pointed. "As far as we learned, there was a human revolt that led to the fall of Ra. Who ended up flying away from Earth not to return."

"There was a revolt, yes." Magnus conceded. "But it wasn't from humans against Goa'ulds."

"Yes, well as in any race the Akhkharu had some power-starved people." Nikola rolled his eyes. "They all had agreed to pose as Goa'uld to attract them to the trap, but some didn't want to relinquish the power after getting it."

"Even with a few astray Akhkharu, they achieved two gigantic goals. One, they absorbed the favorite child of Egeria, and when she noticed it, she understood they weren't the Gods they portrayed. And the Tok'ra was created, on her last connection with the Goa'uld base knowledge she deleted the addresses to Earth."

"And second?"

"They managed to convince the favorite of Ra to jump into an Akhkharu. And then, she convinced him to flee from Earth in search of other worlds. Selmak confirmed that the moment they noticed she wasn't one of them any longer, she was killed … Several times." Jack shook his head knowing quite well what being killed several times could mean.

"But while the Akhkharu fought their cloak and dagger battle, the few Ori's fans who had reached Earth created a plan. They talked with the humans and all the mixed sub species and convinced a bunch that Akhkharu's were evil. And the revolt happened two days after Ra had left."

"Of course, the Humans were no match for the Akhkharu pre-change, much less now that they had these new-found skills. The Akhkharu won by far, and the astray ones proved their point. As the superior race, they decided to take control over Earth for the well-being of all the living creatures."

"And what did they do with the others?"

"That's easy, in the period of peace, Ancients worked on a safe stronghold known as the City of Praxis. A city inside the hollow part of Earth. The council of Akhkharu's decided that it was fair for the traitors to live on Praxis, and so they did. They placed guards over all the entrances and placed the Stargate on a safe only they knew how to open to prevent both Goa'uld taking over them, and they left the city."

"Angrier with the Akhkharu, the Ori's started to scheme. And by the time the council was supposed to send members to Praxis to check the status of the people, they had mounted a special equipment by the entrance. This technology made the Akhkharu's mortal again. The scouts were killed, and their heads were returned to the entrance."

"The remaining members of the council decided that trying to enter Praxis was too dangerous, and thus, they sealed the city. And from there the Earth entered a golden age. However, with the previous experience, this group of nasty Praxians managed to create a way to sterilize the Akhkharu. And making their way to the top through an unknown exit, they kidnapped the children and made them go through the process."

"With this tested, they started a new campaign and by means of religion, they convinced humans that Akhkharu's were devils. The Praxians took revenge at that point; they mixed up with a faction of the Catholic Church and with their advanced knowledge, managed to prevent the perpetuation of the Akhkharu species. The dark ages started. By then, the Akhkharu's were hunted, humanized and sterilized in a historic act we know as the crusades."

"The crusades?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, actually the witch hunt was also part of the same. The absurd tests on pointed witches were done because an Akhkahru would've survived to be burned or drowned. And if they did, then they were humanized and killed. The few who managed to remain moved to Bhalasaam were they attempted to live in peace and fix themselves back to their former glory. They couldn't duplicate the process after being humanized, and at the end, no one remained. Bhalasaam was bombarded during a war putting a final note to their history. With this, we can fast-forward to 1800."

"What happened then?"

"Gregory Magnus started the Sanctuary to help all the abnormals he found. They were plenty, and his work set the basis to what we now have and know. The Sanctuary expanded through the world with the help of the Governments', we kept the abnormals safe and the humans out of the loop. That was until five years ago, when a group called the Cabal, which wasn't more than descendants of the escaped Praxians, created this virus to drop all abnormals from the face of Earth. Or so we thought."

"And something which doesn't happen often happened then: We were wrong." Nikola sighed. "They created a virus knowing that the only way to stop it was using pure, untainted Akhkharu's blood. And that was something that Gregory Magnus wanted as far away from the hands of his descent as possible."

"One of his last tasks was placing the vial containing this blood in Bhalasaam, protected by traps that could only be passed by using five distinct abnormal skill sets. After passing the tests, we acquired it. By then, we had to place the divide and conquer tactic I mentioned before, and Ashley and Henry were tortured while we were retrieving the vial."

"They never noticed what was done to me, until I disappeared with it. My last memory from that time was getting home with the Cabal plans. But the next thing I remember, is," Ashley stopped and looked at Helen, "is watching my mom trying to bring me back."

"As you know by now, they treated her with the blood and brought forth their dormant genes, but also, they made her a new species. She has traits of Akhkharu, but she also has mine and her father's traits. Back then, the cabal made copies of their experiment and tried to bring the Sanctuary to an end. However, at the end of the day, we are still standing and they, well, are not."

"And when we thought we were in peace," Will added, "something happened. Someone found a way out of Praxis, and we were forced to find a way in."

"Helen needed the cure more than we needed to prevent things from happening. We didn't know entering Praxis would end up as it did."

"Praxians lived in peace and evolved. And finding out that Akhkharu's were no longer the rulers and that humans were far behind them in the evolution process, made them want to claim Earth. An up-rise was organized, and thankfully, we managed to prevent the disaster that was going to happen otherwise."

"How?"

"Time traveling. Without doing it on purpose, we send someone back in time. And that allowed a plan b to be developed. But there was a thing with this plan B," Helen sighed. "I was pretty sure that this up-rise wasn't just to claim topside. But the only way I had to learn the plan behind the plan, was becoming someone they trusted. However, with abnormals surfacing from everywhere, SCIU, Lotus, and multiple abnormal offices were created. The most dangerous abnormals were pursued and incarcerated."

"The most dangerous ones?"

"Yes, abnormals like Ashley or me became the main targets," Nikola explained. "You'll see, every agency wanted to put their hands in us to use us. Can you imagine how it would be having someone with Ashley's skills on your troupe?"

"Somehow, Lotus managed to imprison the leader of the revolt, but he was still able to lead it from the jail, thanks to the skills one of the men imprisoned with him. My chance to win their trust was simple, I needed him out, and thus, I helped them escape." Helen added, stopping to glance at her team. She knew those times were hard on them. "The price over my head multiplied. Not only I was valuable for my knowledge, but I was helping them, and there was not much choice on the matter for me."

"She was right, the plan behind the plan was to make all humans abnormals. And wipe the human race out of the face of Earth." Will said. "But they figured out she was fishing for information and passing it to SCIU. They came to her house and attacked it."

"I was forced to kill all five of them, and then I blew up my home and moved to the facilities you know."

"We really were underground?"

"Yes, we couldn't avoid this insurgency as we couldn't avoid the complete destruction of Praxis or the death of Ashley's father. But we managed to create cities in the hollow Earth that were comfortable enough to keep the abnormals contempt with the situation. As you saw, it feels almost like being out here." Helen finished.

"Now, all agencies still have their abnormal team. However, in most of the cases, we control them. The Governments are still helping us, but they can't say they are or they risk to lose this balance we managed to achieve." Will added.

"It's a very complex situation, yet, so far it's working. I hope we do manage to sustain it until the time in which we can live in peace comes." Helen smiled. "I certainly wouldn't mine be able to walk out there without fears of being chased."

"Ok, now we know the history. What we are lacking is the explanation about your abnormalities." Janet told them, Helen nodded.

"Very well then, let me start with the least obvious of us. William?" She called, and he nodded.

"I'm abnormal. An HEI to be exact, or what we mockingly call the Sherlock Holmes mutation."

"Sherlock Holmes mutation?"

"Yes, the character was based on an HEI. The HEI is a hyper enhanced intelligence. It allows me to see the world in a different way you normally would. I can see holographic images by watching a blue print. And I notice things you wouldn't."

"Now that I can finally work with one HEI without wanting to kill him for being so annoying, I'm working on a prototype of a google that will allow us to see the world in the same way they see it. However, managing to reconstruct their thought process has proven to be quite difficult to achieve." Nikola grinned.

"Henry?"

"Ah, I'm a HAP. Class nine." He grinned. "Oh, that means Hyper accelerated protean."

"Just like Akhkharu's and HEIs… HAPs have a literature of their own, mention of them can be found in the ancient Greece."

"I don't remember hearing about a HAP?" Catherine trailed.

"Well, HAP is their scientific denomination of sorts. They appear in the myths and histories as Lycanthropes or werewolves."

"You got to be kidding!"

"No, sadly, HAPs too had a complicated past with the humans. They too were chased and decimated; they aren't more than a hundred nowadays. Henry's son is the first one to be conceived in over thirty years."

"Oh, well. You saw me. Or I think you did. Mom, you showed them the video, right?" Ashley asked, and Helen nodded. "Well, she explained already what I am. So, Vlad, your turn?"

"As I said, half human half Akhkharu."

"But how's that even possible, weren't they all sterilized and killed?"

"Well, it was a surprise, to say the least. Helen, dear I believe I have no other choice but sharing the history behind my origin as an abnormal."

"I don't see another way, Nikola." She agreed with him.

"Well, the year was 1874. I had found my way to London and met Gregory Magnus' daughter. Other three people and we became very close friends, and by the end of that year, she surprised us all. Helen Magnus had managed to procure a precious vial. It contained the pure, untainted blood of an Akhkharu. Blood that was supposed to give powers to the common human being."

"The same blood you recovered from Bhalasaam?"

"Exactly, the reason why Gregory didn't want it close to his descent was simple. By 1875 she had managed to create a serum that should work on humans, and she injected it to herself, it didn't seem to work, and we took separate ways. Then 1880 arrived, and we decided to test it in ourselves. Gregory found out of our change after my transformation took place. You'll see the others didn't change per se, but me. I couldn't keep myself at bay due to my Akhkharu traits. Desperate with the changes I was undergoing, and not quite knowing what to do with me, she called her father."

"Gregory chewed her head off, as you would say," Helen grinned. "But between the six of them found a way to keep Nikola not only sated but controlled. It was a surprise that he became an Akhkharu, it took Gregory a couple of years to trace Nikola's lineage to one. But the fact was no matter how far away it in his tree it was; he had dormant genes passed from one generation to the next that was brought forth by the serum."

"And you, Doctor Magnus?"

"Well, I'm abnormal. I'm the first abnormal on my tree line… I'm Helen Magnus."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That I'm the only Helen Magnus that has existed since August 27, 1850. Will, be a darling and pass me my bag." Will searched in the backpack he was carrying until he found a makeup bag.

"Really? You are going to fix your make up now?" Jack deadpanned, Helen, smiled and started to clean her face out of makeup.

"You all will be the first ones outside my close friends to see me without it since I started to apply it in 1885." She said, and they observed her as the traces of her makeup starting to fade, and she looked younger and younger. "I stopped aging the day I injected the serum on myself. My skill as Will put it once, is the ability to get to an appointment over hundred years later. Which was also how I was able to return from the past."

"How's that?"

"The time travel trip I mentioned before, was a one-way ticket to 113 years in my past. As you may imagine tools to make a time traveling a possibility were far from being developed at 1898. However, if someone could return rejoin the time line was left, it was me. I simply had to wait. Currently, I'm 274 years old, and no matter how badly I'm hurt I will always return to this. To Helen Magnus circa 1875." She lowered down her mirror to show them exactly how that looked.


	31. Chapter 31

**Hey there! We are going to the past. Let me know if you believe I should raise the rating. There's some unknown Teslen action somewhere in here.** **?** **Hum, I just couldn't take it out of my head… so here it is.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **M.**

 **Thirty-One**

 **Conference Room**

She winked at Ashley and smiled as she analyzed the expression of the unknowing presents. Most of them used stricken expressions, Catherine grinned excitedly. Teal'c remained his stoic self. However, Colonel O'Neill frowned.

"Are you seriously expecting us to believe you are 274 years old? I mean, we got your birth certificate, and it shows you were born in 1973."

"Then, Colonel, explain to me how did I manage to give birth to Ashley who was born in 1980?" She asked crooking her head a little.

"I would love to hear that one," Ashley grinned.

"Or," Henry said, typing. "I can show you all the different birth certificates she has, or the ones Tesla has. I mean, how is easier for you to believe Tesla is an immortal vampire than the Doc being a very old lady? Sorry boss, no offense there."

"None was taken," she smiled.

"Okay, let's say we believe you. How do you know the President?" He asked Helen sighed.

"It's because of the call?" She asked, and he nodded once shortly. "I can't divulge how or why I met him; the fact is if known him for a long time. I knew his father as well as his predecessor in the chair and all the predecessors dating back let's say the 20th century."

"Both Winston and Teddy loved her wit. Her skills as a spy were quite useful for both of them. It was hell for me, but I couldn't ever stop her from doing things before." Tesla added.

"Wait, Winston and Teddy?" Daniel asked

"Churchill and Roosevelt," Will added shaking his head. "Don't even start to ask, I've known her for almost six years now and I'm still asking about her past. I mean, what can you expect if the woman's godfather was Pasteur itself, right?"

"It doesn't matter who I knew or who I know, trust me there are plenty people on that list to fill a whole library. The fact is that I know Henry Hayes and his family along with plenty others."

"Hmm, okay. How did the two of you meet?" Daniel asked again.

"We told you already; we met at Oxford." Tesla pointed.

"It was a warm day, the first day of Michaelmas," Helen added.

"The first day of the first term of Oxford," Nikola clarified.

"I started to fight for a place when I turned twenty. However, they didn't grant me permission until 1873. I was the only female in campus, and I wanted to make a statement of the sort. By then, I wasn't abnormal, just a woman who wanted to pursue and complete a medical career. I was already trained for it by my father and godfather. But practicing was something I wasn't allowed unless it was in the battered abnormals who lived under my home and later, a friend of mine who offered."

"I don't know how she managed, but she did. And she was there, standing in the middle of the grounds with this smile on her face while she looked at her surroundings. And that said everything I needed to know. I walked towards her, and we never lost contact after that."

"You mentioned friends?"

"Yes," Helen's eyes glinted with the memories and so did Nikola's. "The five they called us. They were all a couple of years older than me, but they were mostly specializing contrary to my place starting my courses. It was Nikola's first year too. We were there for nine more terms before we parted our ways."

"Nine terms. that's three years?"

"Yes, we met in 1873 and went apart in 1875."

"The year you became abnormal," Daniel affirmed.

"Exactly. As we were a very tight group, Helen's father had let us find about the rarities of life. John and I were there the moment when she got the vial of Akhkharu's blood in her hands."

"John?"

"Montague John Druitt, Ashley's father," William explained. Daniel frowned at the name.

"Yes, Doctor Jackson, the man behind Jack the Ripper was my fiancé. However, I would rather not talk about him. He has already left us and can't be bothered any longer."

"Okay..." he nodded. "You got the blood, made the serum and what? Why did you go apart?"

"Despite all the protest of the four of them, I refused to let them test it. It was going to be the first test in humans, and it was my experiment. I wasn't willing to take the blame if something happened to them because of my actions."

"So you injected it to yourself."

"Yes, it was the most excruciatingly painful days of my life. It took two days until my body decided to reset itself, as we called it. And two more to return to 'normal' and as I couldn't do anything out of the ordinary. We thought the mysteries of the blood were nothing but a myth."

"Reset?" Sam asked she hadn't heard that before.

"Yes, we theorized that a change in such depth needed a reboot. Sort to speak, the five of us went into cardiac arrest before awakening as the abnormals we became. As if our hearts needed to stop itself to accept the change the body went through."

"Similar to what happened with Teal'c?" She asked.

"Precisely, that's exactly how it happens."

"And that's why you weren't scared when it happened."

"Indeed." Nikola grinned. "We knew the change was going to affect the way his body works and thus, his heart would need a reset. I will happen to everyone who gets the cure. It's not lethal just, necessary."

"Okay. I guess." Sam frowned. "Sorry, I interrupted you."

"There's no harm done," Helen said.

"By the end of that year, John, James, and Nigel had no further reason to remain in Oxford. They had completed their training a year before and had stayed around for research purposes. They all got offers, and they accepted them. I returned home, and my unknowing father sent me to the University of Graz in Austria. I already knew most of what they wanted to teach me, so I left it. Then my father convinced me that Charles University was for me, I went there in 1880. And that's when it happened," Nikola explained.

"What happened?" Catherine asked enthralled.

"We met again." He grinned.

"In 1875, I remained in London and started both to take care of human and abnormal patients. James, he entered the Scotland Yard, for his studies of the human mind. John and Nigel, they returned to their homes and business. Until 1880, that year, there was a party for all Oxford alumni."

"And after a quick exchange of telegraphs, we all agreed to go. I was the last warm night of August, almost a month before Michealmass 1880 started when I returned there…"

 **1880**

 **Oxford**

 **Nikola's POV**

I'm shaking with anxiety; it's been five years since I've since them. Five years since the last time the five had met. And I know, the only chance we have of having a pleasant time is if she is here.

Yes, it might be regarded poorly, but that devil woman is what pulls us together. I don't see any other possibility for managing such friendship with four men I have nothing in common. One studied the mind, the other two businesses and I, I'm still in love with electricity… But she, she studied it all.

Her skills were beyond anything I've seen before, and I understood why she was like that the moment I met Gregory Magnus secret. He had raised her to inherit a heavy burden, one I'm not sure I would like to carry. And for that alone, she had to understand most things in a way no one needed before.

I take a look at the walls that we've walked, and I can't help but feel a little nostalgia. We certainly had spent some glorious times between this walls. And we grew so much that we couldn't be contained. I look around, there are many women here today, but all of them are nothing but a wife. No kindred minds, no glinting eyes in search of knowledge. No, just a horde of women trying to show themselves in the lights of this event.

And I see her. The one that has a different reason for being here and my heart skips a beat.

I can't but admire her from a distance, I can't help but notice how she fits well in here and she doesn't at the same time. Her dress is too her, her stance is too secure, and she is looking up and down the buildings with this smirk, and I know she's thinking 'I've made it. Bloody Hell, I made it.'

Keeping my eyes on her I walked around to get behind her, and she has her eyes fixated straight ahead now, and I can see a faint blush covering her cheeks. I want to follow her line of sight, but I also want to surprise her, and I must choose.

"You are looking lovely, Ijubavnica," I whisper to her ear, and she shivers, and I feel proud of myself for managing such reaction.

"Nikola," she whispers. She turns around, and we are close, too close, and I stretch her in my arms, and she grasps me back with such force that I have to ask her to let me breathe. And I know, it should be the other way around. But "Sorry, Nikola," she whispers to my ear as she takes a single step back and I notice.

"Oh, dear. You look…" I start, how you even start to explain to someone that she looks exactly the same way that the last time you've seen them five years earlier. She shies away in an uncharacteristically behavior for her.

"Oh, well, you know me, I've never been one for the pimping and parading," she shrugs.

"Nonsense, you look extraordinary, better than any other woman in this place, Ijubavnica. Don't ever let that bother you."

"You know I don't," she grins back at me. And no matter how firmly she voices it, I know deep inside she doesn't believe it. She considers herself some sort of ugly duckling that has no hope of ever finding a companion who would take her with all her burdens. She confessed me that much, under the effects of one moonshine we concocted once. I too confessed her my fears, but I never told her I will always be there if she would want me.

"Here you are," a deep voice comes from behind her back, and we lose the silent conversation we were keeping with our eyes. And her eyes brighten, I knew she had feelings for the oaf, and I can help but feel a bit displaced by him.

"John," she whispers not even turning around to check if he was him. And of course, that shouldn't be surprising we know each other that much. I don't need to see Montague John Druitt to know he has that pretentious smile of his out, nor to know that he will be flirting with her all night. How could I not know? We all tend to do that when she's around.

"I hope you don't plan on hiding in plain sight all night," James Watson voice comes from behind us.

"Yes, I have to agree with James. Either you got even worse at hiding, or you are waiting for us to find you, Helen, dear."

She grins. We are all here.

We are all here for her.

I don't know if she notices the power she has over us, the power she had over all the people she met during her stance at Oxford and all the people who had reached to her. But I know we do, and we can do nothing that allows her to pull us into her magnetic field.

"Look at us, the five are together again," she smiles, "Shall we go and cause some mischief in this party?"

We nod, and we start to walk towards the ball room, and I see them exchange glances and look at her with confused expressions. I believe they all have noticed what I did.

"James, you are the one with studies about the human mind," Nigel trails looking at her. "What can you comment on finding someone after five years and encounter the person hasn't changed at all."

"Whatever you mean, Nigel?" She asks as we finally reach the ballroom, and with it, the light. "Why are you all looking at me as if I grew another head? Do I have something in my hair?" She asks touching her head lightly then looking down to her dress. When she found nothing out of the ordinary, she rushes towards one mirror that takes over one wall at the entrance, and she frowns. "I don't see anything out of the ordinary, for you all being looking at me quite like that," she turns around.

"Really, dear? Don't you notice?" Watson asks her.

"Obviously I don't. Otherwise, I would have fixed it by now, wouldn't I James, dear?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Look again, Helen," Druitt says, and he walks over her, and I feel my stomach doing summersaults of angriness. I'm friends with John, but I certainly don't want him touching our Helen like that. But he does, he reaches her and carefully turns her around again, plastering himself against her back. Proper distance is damned because even with it there I can see her skin getting covered in goosebumps and her cheeks blush.

His hand moves slowly but surely, and she follows the movement from the mirror, she holds her breath and closes her eyes when his hand caress her cheek and then, she left out a sigh. And the three of us share a look; we know we lost her. We understand her heart belongs to him more than to any one of us.

"Open your eyes, dearest." He whispers loud enough for us to hear. "And tell me, what do you see?" She looks at them in the mirror, she's flushed, and her eyes are dilated, and we look away when she bites her lower lip. "Darling, you haven't aged." He tells her.

And we or at least I, feel her eyes on me. I look back in the mirror and find she was, her eyes connect with mine through the mirror, and she bites her lip again and raises an eyebrow.

"It is true, Helen. You haven't." I say, and she turns around.

"It must be your memories failing you all," she chuckles. "Let's enter and enjoy ourselves; it's been such a long time since the last time we did." We all look at her, and she sighs. "You believe it has to do with… our experiment?" We all exchange another glance.

"I can't find another explanation, Helen, dear," Watson says. "I can see the passage of the days in all of us, but you. You are exactly the same we left five years ago."

"It can't be," she shook her head. "My nose was broken last year; I'm certain you are not noticing it. To dazzled by the situation to be the wiser."

"Darling, you haven't changed. You don't have a broken nose. Let me show you," Druitt says blushing a little and we all frown. He moves his hand to take something out his pocket watch out. However, he brings out a locket. He clears his throat and opens it, we all come together to see what is he showing at her. But soon there's no need for us to try and occupy the same space.

She's back at looking herself in the mirror and then at the small picture of herself that had found a way into John's locket.

"No, there must be a mistake."

"No, dearest, there isn't," Nigel said.

"But what does this means?" She sighs, and she sounds a bit defeated. Almost like that time when she confessed me her fears.

"We don't know for sure, Dear. I don't know the rest of you, gentlemen. But I will point It to her experiment."

"Well, there's only one way to know for sure," I offer, and her eyes widen.

"No, I won't let you." She tells me.

"It is the only way…" I trail.

"What are you two blabbering about?" Nigel inquiries.

"We must remake her experiment, and I'm offering as a volunteer," I said.

"Well, let's all do it. Even if it's only the fountain of youth, we won't obtain the same results than she did. The female and male body do have different characteristics." Watson explains.

"No," she tries.

"What can possibly go wrong, Helen, dear?" he asks again. "Worst case scenario, it won't work. And Best case, we look like this until the day we die, what's there to lose?"

"Can I least consider it?" She asks, and we know we have won. We nod in agreement. "Now, may we please enter the party before someone decides than me standing by the entrance with four gentlemen is a sort of enchantment?" she smiles

And I must say, if someone thinks it, it's quite correct. We are all around her because she has enchanted us with herself a long time ago.

 **Present time**

"It took me a week to agree and another one to reproduce the serum. And then, we had to find a way to do it without raising my father's suspicions."

"But we managed, as always." Nikola grins.

 **1880**

 **Helen's POV**

"If my father learns about this, he will murder me and you all," I say nervously, true to their words they allowed me enough time to consider. But they all had come and visited me every day since that day in Oxford. Everyone is trying not to look impatient nor pressuring me.

Although, I knew they all had their own ideas and they had won me over on day two. I resisted because I can't do much more than try and stop them. However, ultimately it is their choice as it was mine. After a week, I agree to make the serum.

It takes another week and plenty of planning to manage the same results I obtained five years ago for mine. It doesn't help that my father has decided to stay in London instead of traipsing through the Kingdom in search of new species.

No, he remained behind for this trip and this trip alone as if he had developed some sort of sixth sense that I may do something that could result in a disaster. He never knew about the blood source, and I've been on my best behavior since getting my precious degree. But then again, I'm being visited by five gentlemen, and one must think they have placed their interest in me and not in the concoction I'm making in the darkest times of the day.

Father likes James and dislikes John. Probably because James is enchanting, is a self-made man and his Latin is almost as good as my father's. John, well, my father has announced me that he's not good for me. And he is certainly the one which attracts me the most. Father, tolerates Nikola, he says I'm the only one capable of liking such an annoying man, but truth to be told, I'm a bit in love with him, the way he pictures images in his mind and the marvelous plans he has are completely mesmerizing just like his smile and his eyes. And then, there's Nigel. Father thinks of him as a good man, a family man.

If he ought to decide my fate, which he won't. He would pick James. If I must… I bite my lower lip and shook my head. My, my Helen Magnus, where has your head gone? I ask myself. Nikola or John, John darkness or Nikola's enchantment. I sigh and pressure myself against the wall.

A shade moves past the corridor, and I take my chance to reach my lab to work in the vial. With a final set of tests, I'm willing to certify that I'll make available four vials of the same serum I once used.

Early in the morning, it's Nikola's day to appear in the wee hours of the day.

"You are amazing, Ijubavnica!" he exclaims embracing tightly and placing a soft kiss on my cheek. My body shivers under the thousands of layers that make the proper outfit for a woman of my status.

"Thank you, Nikola. There's no need to shout it." I point, and he grins.

"We all should shout it from the rooftops, Doctor Helen Magnus is the brightest mind in this country!" he says, and I roll my eyes.

"Nikola, stop it." I grin. "We need to plan," I whisper to him, and he sighs.

"Your father…" He trails, and I nod. "I don't understand him; he must know by now that we are all inoffensive beings."

"You might be inoffensive, Nikola. But you are not the one who worries me," comes my father's voice and I wince. However long have him been listening to us? Nikola observes me, and I understand he's telling me that my father has just joined.

"Then you should give me her hand," he grins mischievously, and I don't doubt a second before I slap him in the arm.

"Left one, or right one?" my father says, and I know he is joking.

"Either one, both are lovely." Nikola grins, and I blush. "How have you been Mister Magnus?"

"Are you ever going to call me Gregory, Nikola?"

"Is it not proper for me to call you Mister Magnus?"

"Well, you and all the other three know that proper and respectful aren't necessarily the same thing, not in this house at least. Why are you here Nikola?"

"Just visiting, I will return to Prague for the spring semester. One can never learn enough," he grins, and my father pats his shoulder.

"I can see why she keeps you around. Well, I need to get back at work. Try not to corrupt my daughter that much, Nikola." He snorts.

"As if a simple man like me could change the force of nature that comprises inside your daughter, Mister Magnus."

"I guess you are correct, Nikola. I wish I could, yet she's still who she is." My father winks at me before placing a kiss on my cheek and turning towards the other side of the house.

"Just say the word, and I'll make the arrangements, Ijubavnica."

"Let's do this." I agree.

It takes us a while to find a workaround, but as always we do. They claim they need to make an investigation and my father's library is vast. And it's empty of students searching for salvation among the written words. He agrees to allow them to stay for a week. But nothing more than that. And it's in the library that we mount the place to inject them one by one with the serum.

"I'm going first," Nikola says, and I raise an eyebrow.

"Well, my change took two days and a cardiac arrest Nikola. We only have a week and four of you. I will suggest we take draws; we can't possibly allow all of you to go through it at once, without any medical supervision," I add looking at the four of them. They nod in agreement, and I grab a paper and write their names.

"I'll suggest my name to be written out, Helen dear," James says, and I turn around with an inquiring glance, and he chuckles. "Nothing quite like that my dearest. I'm the only one with some form of medical training. We can divide and conquer so to speak."

"Pray tell what are you suggesting, James?"

"Two of them get treated first. It took two days until you had the cardiac arrest. Therefore we should consider two days for each of us, in which we will be able to take care of them separately you can look at one while I look at other. However, if my analysis is correct, there's a slight chance that the process takes less time in some of us. Or even more time, either way, if we divide the work by the end of the week we will be all set. After all, we only need to be there until the 'reset' happens."

"Very well, then. If you all agree I'll take a name for me, and then James can take the other name. Whoever finishes first will then apply it to the third of you, and then I'll tend to James."

"I guess we have a plan." Nikola grins. Rip the page in their three names, and once they are all folded, I place them in my hand and shake them. I throw them in the air, and I grab one while James repeats what I did with the other two.

"Very well then, the first one is …"I say unfolding the paper with trembling hands and I know I pale when I read it. "Nikola…" I whisper, and he winks at me.

"I have Nigel…" James announces by my side. I nod, feeling a knot in the pit of my stomach. They arrange a second seating place for Nigel as I prepare the dosage. I turn around and find four sets of eyes on me. I give James the syringe and take mine. Slowly, I walk towards Nikola, and I know he is grinning under that awful mustache of his.

"Don't worry, Ijubavnica. I trust you with my life."

"That's what worries me," I whisper. And then, I press the needle against his arm.

"Oh Dear Lord!" he starts to writhe, and on the other side, Nigel is doing the same. They are a bit too loud, and quickly John resolves it. He picks Nikola as if the man was the lightest thing and turns towards me.

"Which way, Helen?" He asks since Nikola is the only one who's not staying in the same wing they are. I rush to the room Nikola had used during his years at Oxford and John follows me close. He places him on the bed and reaches for a chair that he places beside his bed. "I'm going to help James to move Nigel; he's heavier than Tesla."

"Thanks, when I'm sure he's back to life I'll join you at the Library. Tell James to do the same. In that way, if either of them takes less time, we can proceed with the plan."

He nods and closes the door behind him. Nikola continues to squirm; he's worse than I was. He keeps tossing and turning. And he left outs words in his native tongue that I'm yet to understand. He whispers my name, and I feel the guilt as it sets in… I don't move from his side until someone knocks the door and I find myself moving to open it just slightly. James is standing on the other side; I move to give him space to enter.

"Have you eaten something, Helen dear?" He asks taking my face in his hand, and I shook no. "Then go, freshen up and eat. It's been a long day."

"A day?"

"Yes, dear. It's 11:15 PM."

"Why aren't you with Nigel? How is he?" he grins.

"Well, as I thought, Nigel process was short. He rebooted ten or twelve hours after. I had a conversation with John, and he agreed that a good night sleep was going to be helpful for both. He already turned to bed telling me that he better be awoken early, you know how much he's not a morning person." He chuckled. "I decided that since you didn't join us at the library, you were still here or sleeping yourself. I took my chances and here I am. Therefore, before I turn for the night, I considered being a gentleman and offer you a chance to eat and freshen up a little."

"I…" I doubt biting my lower lip and taking a look at the other side of the room.

"Don't worry; I didn't let anything happen to Nigel. I won't allow something to happen to Nikola, no matter how annoying I consider him to be." He grinned.

"Very well, then. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Take your time, Helen."

I eat and take a quick bath before preparing a tray with fruits, water and a pot of tea that I can place on the fire. And with all settled, I walk to Nikola's room. James smiles at me and stands up to help me with the things I'm carrying.

"Thanks, I prepared one tray for you to take tomorrow to John's room. In case it takes longer," I smile

"Excellent, we are going to do it in his room since I'm by far not strong enough to carry him there. I will come in the morning, after settling all the things and bring you the things so you can prepare the vial for him."

"Very well, I'll see you in the morning, James."

"I'll say try to get some sleep, but I know you won't." He says walking away, I sigh.

I look at Nikola nothing has changed, he is still tossing and turning. Without much to do but stare at him, I move to set the tea pot next to the fire and prepare some of the warm beverage to keep myself awake through the night. Then something happens, I hear the clear sound of fabric being ripped.

I turn around towards the origin of the sound, and I don't see much. But then, I notice that somewhere close to Nikola's hands the sheet has been ripped in four places on both sides of him. I frown. When it happens again, my eyes are already set on his hands. I can see long nails growing out of the blue before they rip the fabric and disappear again.

"What did I do?" I whisper to myself.

Nothing out of the ordinary happens until James enters the room, he brings me the vial and syringe and takes away the tray I had. He returns with a new tray, fresh tea, and a sandwich and forces me to eat before he leaves.

"I don't know how long it will be before you or I can leave their rooms," he smiles.

"Do take the precautions to have food and water for at least the next two days," I say, and he nods. "How is Nigel? Do we know how he reacted to it?"

"You won't believe what it did to him until you see him. I sent him home for now until we are all done. It's better for him not to be around in case it happens in front of your father, he's struggling with his newfound skill."

"What is it?"

"You'll see when you are finally out of here." He grins. And then, there's a knock on the door, and he walks towards it.

"Helen," John whispers and I shiver. "James if you are all set, I'm ready." He affirms. "Of course, if you don't mind I would like a few words with Helen before we do this." James nods and leaves the room, taking the vial and the prepared syringe with him.

"Are you sure you want to do it, John?" I ask, and he smiles, his hands caress my cheek softly.

"I do. Helen, you saved me from myself before, and I trust you will be there if I need to be saved again."

"I might not be there…" I say looking towards the bed.

"I don't mean now, I mean in the future." He places a soft kiss on my cheek, and I gasp. "If something were to happen with whatever I may end up with, if someone can save me, it is you, Helen Magnus." He says, "I only needed to see you as the man I am today. To have your image burnt into my mind while I go through the change."

He leaves, and I'm feeling a bit dumbfounded by his words. It's hours later, I'm still half way lost in my thoughts, and my eyes are pinned to Nikola's moving form when the next thing happens, he swears, and truly, I only heard him swear in a handful of opportunities. Then he growls in a primal way that I've never heard before from a man. His teeth are different for few seconds they look sharper, and soon they are back to normal.

And when the afternoon gives space to the night, it happens. His change, whatever it might be is completed, and he enters a cardiac arrest. I move quickly to save him from his death, and then I feel it. His hands grasp my body, and his lips find mine. And I can't help but answer.

It's nothing quite like I felt before, it's completely raw. Nikola bites me softly in the neck, and I moan, I don't have time to blush at my own need before I notice his long nails, those that ripped the sheet before, are ripping my dress.

Deep in my mind I know this was not how a first time was supposed to be, not for me and not for him. It's outside of a marriage and in this primal way that has nothing to do with the compromise of a marriage or the romantic ending of love.

It's not that, and it's too much. It's too wrong, and it's too bloody right, and I can't keep myself from undressing him, and Nikola seems unable to unlatch himself from me. We pant, we move, he enters me, and I scream in pain, and he bites me again, and I forget about the pain and enjoy the feeling of being complete for the first time in my life. He doesn't stop; I don't either. We simply can't. And then, as something builds in me, he bites my neck, hard, and I feel blood pouring out from it, he sucks it, and I reach ecstasy, and so does him.

I'm still panting and trembling, and half way out of this world and he sucks from my neck as if his life depended on it and I let him it's utterly erotic. The rush I felt starts to slow and he licks the remains of the former pouring blood out of my skin, and I shiver.

I want more.

It's something in him that draws me closer, something that was there before but not quite like this. Yes, I liked him, loved him even. But I've never felt this raw need of giving myself wholly to him. I felt desire for him, yet not like this. And as soon as my skin touches his, we start all over again, exploring, tasting, trying, biting, we can't seem to stop ourselves from doing it.

We climax together over and over again until he releases my neck and collapses back to bed and I follow. He caresses my hair with one hand, and my back with the other and I sigh against his chest. My neck feels sore of all the biting he did, and I was sure I was going to die from lack of blood, but here I am, feeling more alive than ever.

As if he read my mind, he moves and places a soft kiss on his preferred bite spot and sighs. And even with all this new energy running through my body, we fall asleep before I can come to terms with what had just happened. The next thing I know is he is staring at me; his eyes wander on my naked form and his completely in awe. He licks his lips, and I blush, wondering if he still can taste me on them. His eyes soften when he notices I'm awake.

"Ijubavnica," he says and my body trembles. "I'm sorry… I'm so terribly sorry; this shouldn't have happened like this. Not like this, not with you." He says, and I raise my eyes and find his conflicted ones. "I don't know what came over me, to do this to you. Helen, please forgive me." He pleads, and I place a finger on top of his lips.

"Nikola," I whisper. "I don't know what came over me neither. We should… I should… I know how this collides completely with what you've been taught as well as which what I've been taught, we will come through, there's no other way. I can't lose you because of this," I confess biting my lower lip. He sighs. We frown. "How are you feeling?" I ask, there's no point in discussing this situation at the moment.

"Good," He blushes. "I mean, my body is still a bit sore, but I feel oddly refreshed. I feel stronger, healthier… I also feel, hungry." He finishes, but his eyes stop by my neck. And his tongue comes out to lick his thin lips. He shakes himself. "You need to go, Helen, I can smell your blood, and it's driving me mad. I don't want to hurt you… Not again."

I bite my lower lip as I remember the way his teeth punctured my skin and how ungodly good that had felt, all those times. And nod. Whatever happened it better does not happen again.

"Ahm, you should freshen up before getting to them." He calls over as I'm trying to find something to wear back to my room, which thank goodness is only two rooms away from his.

"Why?" I ask as I found a robe and I try to attach the remainders of my clothes so it doesn't seem I'm naked under the robe, that would be completely inappropriate if I were to cross someone on my way to my room.

"I can smell you from here, Ijubavnica." He says with this deep voice I only heard the previous night. "And if I can, who knows if they can too." I nod.

"Stay here, Nikola. I mean it, no roaming the house." I add pointedly. "Not until you find out what is that you became."

"And how pray tell, will I figure it by staying here?"

"Test it," I say before I disappear out of his room.

I run towards my bedroom and close the door behind me, and lean against it. I want to cry of happiness; I want to shout of angriness. I do none. Biting my lower lip, I walk towards the bathroom, and I start a bath. I take a look at the destroyed clothes as they are clinging to my body and falling out of it showing parts that until yesterday only I had seen.

I look at my neck, and I expect to find a bite mark and a purple toned skin. But I find nothing but white unmarred skin. I close my eyes and thank God that at least my sins wouldn't glare me from my neck every time I look at myself in the mirror.

I clean myself… twice. I feel heavenly and sinful, and I need to start living with the aftermath of last night. And with the knowledge that I want more.

I know I've never been much of an indoctrinated woman, but the learnings that were pushed to me through my nana weight heavy. I know I was going to hell even before last night, now, I'm certain that my soul has no salvation. I've sinned, and I took Nikola with me.

I close my eyes as a single tear abandons them. And then, I stand and dress, there's still too much of life ahead of me, and there are too many sins to commit before I die. I walk to the other end of the house and check on the other two man of my life.

The one I admire the most is not there, but the one I thought I was going to give me too, is sitting as attractive as ever on his bed. His hair is mussed, and I feel this tremendous need of passing my hand through it, as I did with Nikola's not that long ago. I whimper.

"Helen?" he asks, and I shake my head. My heart plummeted to my stomach.

"Good morning John, I wanted to know how are you feeling?" I manage to say, hoping I don't sound guilty.

"I'm well enough. James said I reached the end of the cycle at around 1 AM," close to when Nikola and I lost our virginities to each other. I think.

"Do you have any idea of what changed in you yet?" I manage to ask.

"I'm not certain. I will be testing me to see if I manage to find what has."

"Well, then, if you are alright. I should find James and finish this for once and for all."

"Very well, then. I shall wait for your return. By the way, Helen. You look gloriously beautiful today, has something happened?"

"Well, I fell asleep a little after midnight." I blush, lying through my teeth. "Which is somewhat early for me."

"Oh, then your beauty sleep worked marvelously." He winks. "Thanks for stopping by, dear."

He says, and I nod, guilty taking over my body. I walk towards James room and knock. He opens the door and looks at me.

"You look different today, Helen. Is everything alright?"

"Yes. Shall we do your procedure?"

"Of course, I'll prepare your tray of food, and you can bring the vial. I left it in the safe." I nod, and we both move to complete the process.

SsGSGSGsGsGsGsGsGSGSGSGS

A/N: Yes, I know.. Virginities! They are 30! You are insane! Right? But take a moment to think that we are talking about the Victorian Era, where women were supposed to get married and be mothers not going around sleeping with friends :P. And of course, Tesla (the real one), he was the son a priest, good luck finding someone more indoctrinated in religion than him (there probably are many). But even with all that, it made sense; she was trying to get somewhere getting her degree and all and normally when you are that driven, you forget some of your base needs. Until someone reminds you that you do have them. xD


	32. Chapter 32

Hey there! Long time not seeing you around. Hopefully, you are still around. It took me a long time to get this one together.

Anyhow! Enjoy!

M.

Thirty-two

 **Conference room**

 **Present**

"So, once you all were changed, how did you find out you were an Akhkharu?" Sam asks.

Helen and Nikola exchange a quick glance, they both remember quite vividly the how and the way the change had affected them and their relationship. They also remembered quite vividly the promise of never talk about it with anyone.

 **1880**

 **Helen Magnus POV.**

"Nikola? How are you feeling?" I ask as I enter his room two days later. I can't seem to find him, the light in the bathroom is turned on. "James and John returned to their homes, James change took around 12 hours, he was different, he had this huge …" I continue, and then I see him. I notice his black eyes, and his long nails and I shiver in excitement. "headache."

"Dear Lord," I say when in a motion that's faster than humanly possible, I find myself pinned to the wall. His nose nuzzles my neck and his tongue darts out to lick it. "Nikola," I whisper. He says something, and I frown, he speaks of something I've never heard before, or that I've never heard him talking in before. "Nikola," I whisper again as his hands explore my sides.

"I need you, Ijubavnica." He tells me, and his nails cut the front of my dress as I gasp launching my chest forward, closer to him. "You are the only one who can save me," He says, and I notice it wasn't in English but in this obscure language that I thought I didn't know but somehow, I understand perfectly.

"What?" I stop him from moving, and his black eyes lock with mine. Before his lips collide on mine and we start all over again. His hands explore, and mine follow. He takes me right there against the wall, and I don't deny him entrance. And as I shiver in the aftermath he takes me in his arms and places me softly on the bed.

The primal need becomes soft, he kisses and explores and caresses, and I do the same. We whimper, pant, groan and moan. But it's different than all the other times from our first encounter. It's like we both finally managed to understand that this was happening for a reason far stronger than our debilitated beliefs of God and hell.

I find myself waking up in his bed every day for two weeks. My body is heavenly sore, and I need three new outfits to replace the ones he shredded until I warned him not to. I saw him fight with his new side, his eyes changing from his regular ones to the blackness until my dress and under gowns pooled on the floor. Then, with a speed that he had just mastered he moved us to the bed and enjoyed the new-found passion over and over again.

"We can't continue like this," I whisper to his ear later that day.

"I know, Ijubavnica." He says placing a soft kiss on my head. "You need to find out what I've become. Only then you will know how to stop this." He trails. We've now come to terms that, even if there was some attraction between us before, this unstable energy and passionate closeness has to do with whatever he has become and was affected by whatever I became before. It made sense; we were the both who took longer to change, maybe it similarly changed us.

When the end of week three hits, he told me something I thought of but hadn't acted on. He tells me "Helen, you should let your father know. You haven't found what I am, and you know we can keep going on like this, every night as insatiable bunnies." I chuckle at the mental image.

But he is right, that's exactly what we've become every time I enter his room, no matter if I come to check him at night or if I reached him at midday to bring him lunch or even early to give him a tray for breakfast, we always end up like this. Sorely spent, butt naked and utterly sated.

"And as much as it pains me to admit it, we can't continue like this forever."

"Okay, I'll talk to him today," I say not moving an inch.

"I must confess, sometimes I feel like a caged lion." He sighs, and I understand him, he has been inside this room for longer than I would like to and even if I brought him books to read it's not the same, he lost his freedom and mine, albeit somewhat existent, seems to be attached to him. I frown, and his finger caresses the lines I created, "Don't blame yourself, Ijubavnica. I chose this fate. Speaking of which, what do you know of the others?"

I unlatch myself from his torso and seat on the bed; he raised with his back to the headboard. I look at him, and his eyes don't waver, he doesn't lower his gaze, and he doesn't feel ashamed of keeping his eyes on mine. It's refreshing as if we reached this point in where our regulars selves can sit and hold a conversation without thinking of what we do when we are not in control of our minds. It took a while, the first couple days we couldn't look at each other in the eyes.

"Well, Nigel has improved his skills, he now can control his cloaking to around 5 minutes and stopped going invisible out of the blue. John, he's learning to control his jumping skills. We all forbid him to enter any chambers, and he has given us his word."

"I'm good with him not showing up unannounced to mine," He smiled mischievously, I rolled my eyes. "You can't blame me for that one, I mean. I know you want to marry and have babies with that man and all but pardon me if I find him scary as hell. Even more than hell if I might add."

"Oh, hush. Then Watson, well, we better don't be in the same room with him for a while. If he was annoyingly correct before, now it's impossible to hide things from him."

"How impossible?"

"Well, I saw him one morning after I… well, I returned to my room and got dressed for the day. I was reading at the library when he showed up to see what news I had from you. And he mentioned my lips looked plumper. And I quote. "my, my Helen Magnus, have you gotten a suitor you aren't telling us about? I'll bet some of us will be fairly disappointed."

"Alas, he knows… something."

"I guess he does; he didn't outright tell me he thought it was you. Yet he might be suspicious of you. Although there's this new intern working downstairs, he probably believes it is him due to the fact the boy can keep his eyes straight when I'm in the room. I sure hope James minds deceive him for once."

"Are you ashamed? Of me? Of us?" He asks me crooking his head slightly.

"I… I'm not, Nikola. But it's not exactly what I wanted for me," I grimace and he nods in understanding.

"You wanted John." He says, and I bite my lower lip. "There's no need to affirm it again, Helena." I wince, he only calls me that when he tries to put some sort of space between us, and it's always around those times when we spoke about my preference for John. He grimaces, "Don't trouble yourself, I knew that before this whole mess happened. I also know we would never be like this if it weren't for whatever the hell is wrong with me."

"Or me…"

"Go, find your father, Ijubavnica." He says caressing my cheek, his eyes softened. "You deserve better than hiding in my room all day because you simply can take your hands from me due to whatever the hell we've become. We both deserve better."

"I know, I wish things were different, Nikola. I know this isn't right, nor the way either of us thought of our future. And no, I know you did think of a future for us, but I'm quite certain it didn't involve not being able to get out of a room."

"Yes, sadly, I knew the future I wanted for us was too much of a dream for ever happening. And now things became utterly complicated." He inhaled deeply. "You must go, or I'll bite you again." I nod, and standing up from the bed I walk towards the place where my clothes are lying on the floor. He's next to me in a blink, helping me dress.

"You should go around naked, Ijubavnica. You are exquisite." He growls into my ear, and I shiver. "Or better, I should never allow anyone to see you like this. You should be sinful only for me…" he whispers. "But it can't be. Go, save us. Find your father… He might be the only one who can help." He places a quick kiss on my neck before moving to the other side of the room. I gulp.

"I'll see you later, Nikola," I say turning around enough time to see his somewhat defeated form standing close to the window, looking the garden and the streets he can't roam.

I closed the door and walked to my room where I get another bath. I believe that I've never been cleaner than during this weeks, nor did Nikola. We bath every time we get apart, and sometimes we bath together when our bodies take a mind of their own. I finish and grabbing a light; I walk downstairs to the Sanctuary.

"Father?" I ask entering his office.

"Helen, dear, what are you doing down here? Are they all gone now?" he grins at me.

"John, James, and Nigel have been gone for three weeks now, father."

"And Nikola?" He asks. Sometimes I believe he knows more than he lets me think. I wet my lips, it's now, or never I guess.

"He's still around."

"And when does he think we will be going? I believe he mentioned the spring semester in Prague."

"That's the plan, yes." I agree with him.

"However?" I gulp. "Helen? What's the matter? Is something wrong?" I lower my eyes. How to explain this? How to disappoint him to this extreme? I know that's exactly what he will feel when he learns about the vial and what I did with it.

"Oh, father." I sigh. "I've done something awful."

"You? What could you possibly do?" I bit my lower lip.

"I found a vial of untainted Akhkharu blood, father."

"What? Is it safe? You know how dangerous it can be in the wrong hands, Helen! That's fantastic; you saved people from who knows what." I shake my head.

"No, father. It ended up in the wrong hands."

"Whatever you mean with wrong hands, dear?"

"It ended up in mine." I sigh, and he comes around and sits in the seat in front of me, and grabs my hands.

"What do you mean when you say your hands are the wrong hands?" I cry, I can't stop it even if I wanted to. He embraces me, and I can see he is utterly confused.

"I made a serum, father. One that can be used by humans to get the mysterious benefits of the blood. I didn't know the extent of the changes. I was such a fool and now…" I gulp taking a breath.

"Nikola?" He asks, and I nod.

"I injected it to Nikola a little over three weeks ago, and he's not coupling well with it. He can't control himself unless…" I blush.

"Unless what? What does he do? What did the blood give to him?"

"Long nails, black eyes, sharp teeth, strength, speed, he reads faster and knows things he didn't before. His memory was improved."

"Oh Lord." He says rubbing his face.

"What?"

"Helen, how has he been coping with it?" He frowns, "Who has been taking care of him?"

"I didn't allow the others to help with him." I inhale. "They are all coping with their own changes."

"Helen Magnus! What on God's Earth did you do?"

"I… they volunteered and I tried to make them change their minds, but they didn't," I explain. He closes his eyes and sighs.

"Well, what's done is done…" he shakes his head before I can explain more. "Just tell me, if the others aren't taking care of him, who is?" I sigh.

"I am," I affirm. The moment I do, he moves my head to the side and in one swift move he clears my neck out of clothes and hair frowning. Then he checks the other side and sighs alleviated. "What's the matter?"

"Your description, Helen. It's the precise description of an Akhkharu."

"Is it? There aren't books about them in the library. The only thing we managed to find was that their blood was supposed to possess miraculous powers."

"That's because information about them is one of the most dangerous and difficult to obtain. I didn't want you to have access to it, Helen. I know you and that kind of information would only ignite your thirst for knowledge. Now, I know I've made a mistake." He sighs. "I should've let you read what I've managed to obtain about them and maybe, that idea wouldn't even spring into your mind."

"I don't understand, father. What does anything of it has to do with my neck?"

"The Akhkharu, also known as Sanguine Vampiris… they fed on blood from one another."

"Blood you say?" I blushed. And he noticed.

"Oh, Helen." I bit my lower lip, and he sighs. "I should have allowed you to read this. Alas, this will get awkward, darling."

"How awkward?" I frown.

"Probably equally for both of us. I will treat you as a patient, and not as my only daughter."

"Very well," I trail.

"According to with your description of the creature, you are talking about a sanguine vampiris. They were known for the same characteristics you described. However, there's an issue with them. To survive, they fed on blood. Their children could grow by a combination of regular food and blood from their parents. However, once the creature was of age, there was a need for them to find a suitable mate or several of those." I frown. "Their ritual of feeding for an adult member of such a species was highly… Tantalizing… For those participating in it. It had an extremely, huh, erotic nature. There are books comparable to the Kamasutra with information about how they fed."

With every word that comes out of his mouth, I feel myself go a shade brighter of pink. My father gives me a knowing look. I mean, if I'm the one taking care of him, it's not so difficult to reach to the proper situation in which we found ourselves.

"However, there's one thing," he trails frowning.

"What thing?"

"How many times has he feed exactly? And even more strange, why don't you have a bite mark?" I whimper. "Oh, Helen, what did you do?"

"I… he… we…" I groan. "A Doctor Patient conversation, Am I correct?" I ask, and he nods. "He's been feeding daily for the past three weeks, Doctor." I bite my lower lip, to avoid telling him that daily means several times a day and not only once.

"What? That's not only preposterous Helen, but it's also impossible!" he shakes his head. "They could only stop once sated, meaning both they had enough blood and their… Physical needs… Were satisfied once. Usually, if the mate were human, they would stop there, and they wouldn't allow their partner to return to their room until they had recuperated the blood they lost. "

"You mean, they drank blood until reaching climax and then they would stop for a week?"

"Yes, exactly! But you mentioned every day, with that rhythm of blood consumption, you should be completely drained by now," he says, and with his finger, he lowers my eyelid. "You don't even have anemia, Helen. You are full of color…"

"I…" I gulp.

"And as I said you don't have a bite mark, has he been biting you somewhere else? Don't tell me; I need to go and kill that man! And he was the one I trusted the most with you!"

"Father! It's not exactly his fault." I intervene before he finishes plotting Nikola's demise.

"Yes, before I check him and then kill him for placing his hands on you. I need to check how is possible for you to be alive." He stands up and grabs my hand to try and take me out of his lab.

"I know why, father." I grimace. And he stops.

"Oh, no, Helen. Please tell me you didn't." He whispers turning around to see me.

"I did. Five years ago." He plopped back in the chair, his head between his hands.

"That's why you haven't changed? That's why your broken nose fixed so perfectly?" He trails looking at me. "But why Helen? Why did you do it?"

"I needed to know." He sighed.

"Of course you did. Oh, darling, if your mother were alive, she would've killed me by now. She was looking forward to having a girl and raise her to be the Lady that your mother was, and see her married to a gentleman. And I did a poor job on steer you to it. Oh well, as I said before… What's done is done. I can't change what I did or didn't do as much as you can change what you did." He says caressing my cheek. "Let's go and check that friend of yours and see what we can do."

"It might be better if I don't go in, father." I blush, and he hums.

"Let's see how he reacts to me before you enter."

 **Conference Room**

 **Present Time**

"We didn't, my father did. I had to let him know what I did. And he was the one who diagnosed Nikola. With his help and a lot of patience we managed to isolate the compound that Nikola needed from my blood."

"Once I was under control, we successfully created a lunch box sort to speak, that would allow me to go through several days without needed more fake blood. That let me tell you, that was something I really valued the fake blood does taste awful."

"When we did, Nikola was supposed to be back in Prague. The five, we joined him on our very first crusade. Father gave us a task on getting some abnormals smuggled back to London, and that was our way to keep Nikola under surveillance.

 **London**

 **1875**

Nikola's POV.

"Ijubavnica," I whisper to her. We are alone in the rooftop of her home. She hums, "are you sure you want to do this?" She sighs and pats the spot in the cornice next to her.

"Nikola, we've managed to stop being attached to each other for over a month now. Yes, you still need my blood, but you can sit with me without having that need of ravishing me." I chuckle.

"The need is still there as it was before the change." I point, and she rolls her eyes.

"You know what I meant." She adds.

"Yes, we don't need to have blood sucking highly erotic encounters. But that's beside the point; I asked you if you were sure. They all be there, what happens if we end up losing control?"

"I won't. You won't, " Helen affirms, and I know she will try as much as she can.

Just like I will, I guess that's my life now, knowing what she's capable of when her limits are pushed, and she has no boundaries. And doing everything in my hands not to be the one taking her there, no matter how much I want to.

"I saw John the other night," I comment, and her eyes sparkle, and I feel like I've been hit in the gut.

"He came to visit me, he was worried you drove me insane during this time," she tells me with sparkling eyes.

"Oh, I know I did." I grin, and she punches me. "Seriously, Ijubavnica. I don't know how good I will be, but I'll do everything in my hands to keep them from knowing, despite what other might think of me, your honor is important to me."

"It's a bit too late to be worried for my honor, don't you agree?"

"Not really, they are only three people who know about our … entanglement. And I'm pretty sure none of us will be revealing that soon. And trust me, Ijubavnica, if you find yourselves in a similar situation with the one you want, he won't care, we will be too occupied trying to memorize you." I caress her cheek, and she bites her lower lip, I know who she's thinking in. I know what she wanted before me, and I know she still wants it, him. And he, oh well… Anyone of us would gladly step forward if she were to call us. He is just as doomed as the least of us.

"I'm not worried about John or Nigel…" she whispers.

"Watson," I say, and she nods. "He will notice something changed between us, but he won't be able to know exactly what it was. I mean, we spend a hell of a lot of time holed up in the lab, even my relationship with your father has been altered. Let's trust he blames it to the large amount of time we passed together. And there's one more thing; he will die before thinking of you and me in that way."

"You think we can manage? Not to tell anyone and not bring this time even among us?"

"I know that for you, I'm willing to try."

 **Present time**

"And how did it go?" Sam asked curiously.

"Well, we were all under control, and we used our skills to get the abnormal convinced that he wanted our help." Nikola grinned.

"What happened next?"

"As much as I adore giving history lessons," Nikola interrupted. "There's plenty of information to offer if you plan on going through our lives. I mean, among the most notorious points of our history you can count both world wars, the great depression, cold war, Cuban revolution, and an extensive list of etceteras. I mean, we were present both when the wall was built and when it was demolished."

"I agree with, Nikola." Helen says, "We can go through all of that, you might find that your version of history is far different from ours. However, it will take time, a long time."

"I've been interrogating Helen for five years, and I'm still learning things I never knew." Will said.

"And there's nothing more you want to share with us?" Jack asked squinting at them.

"The only thing that comes to mind is the history behind your Stargate. Doctor Jackson, you read my invite. Certainly, my calligraphy has to be somewhat familiar with you. Thus, you might be able to confirm that both that note and the images from the expedition diary entries were mine."

"I… well, I noticed the resemblance, yes. I sent them to a friend he's a calligraphist, and he concluded both were from the same person."

"That's correct, as Catherine can confirm, both Nikola and I were present the day the gate was sent, and I was the person who gave it to Catherine's father. I also was the one funding the experiments that ended with the disappearance of Ernst Littlefield."

"What?"

"Yes, we helped fund the research hoping they wouldn't make it without the second part which was hidden on a different sanctuary, but somehow they made it work. The experiments were done under the Air Force chain of command; however, the funds came from me."

"Helen, we've recovered Ernst. I mean SG-1 did."

"That's an excellent news; I always felt his disappearance was partially my fault. Your father wanted to see if he was the right man for you. He did think he was if that makes any difference." She smiled to Catherine. "Well, you know all the history of the Sanctuary, and know what abnormals are…. You also know both Nikola and me, are willing to help the Jaffa's by providing the blood-based cure. And finally, I'm here to offer you access to all the knowledge we already have, that includes multiple areas of expertise that can be coordinated through you. However, we would like to keep our secret for as long as we need and thus, we would ask you to be the coordinating team."

"That sounds acceptable," Hammond nodded. "However, we need to check not only the facts you gave us but what you offered must go through the President."

"I don't think Henry will have an issue with my offering. Alas, I believe I've told you everything that can affect you, your base or your future." Helen affirmed.

The room went silent for a while, Helen felt Jack's eyes on her as he assessed her. Sam frowned as his behavior, Nikola raised an eyebrow. And the rest simply held their breaths.

"Nope, I don't believe you," Jack added after a while. "Yes, all you said might come up as true, but you are still holding something which affects the SGC."

"I'm holding things, yes. However, the information that I'm hiding doesn't affect directly to the SGC or the USAF. It doesn't even affect Henry or his government."

"Yeah, well, ma'am. That's an impressive poker face, however, what you just said it ain't true." Helen raised her eyebrow, and so did Sam, who also clenched her jaw tightly.

"How can you tell, sir?" she answered a bit angered. He turned towards her as if she just slapped him.

"Carter? Are you really saying that you believe there's nothing more? That she has no ulterior motive or hidden agenda lying behind all her years in the world?"

"That's right, sir… that's exactly what I'm saying." She hissed, Jack raised his eyebrows at the expression he found on her face.

"Then Major, you are completely biased." He added sounding disappointed. "See, that's one of the things she's holding, Carter. She knows why you are team sanctuary and she won't let us know the reason behind it."

Hammond looked at his officers then at Helen. Her face showed no signs of distress nor did her posture. Tesla's and Ashley's reaction was similar to Helen's, an impassiveness that could only be achieved with plenty experience. Henry the tech, he was looking around whatever it was she knew, he didn't know. But then, his eyes fell on William, and that man looked concerned as if he knew that whatever she was holding, whatever Jack was trying to push out of her, would be harmful. But beyond what the Sanctuary team looked like, or felt at that moment, there was something that was bothering Hammond beyond all things.

He looked at Sam, and Jack who were hissing to each other. The two of them had gone through hell and back, confessed they cared about each other more than they were supposed to, and without taking any actions towards a relationship they kept their careers and themselves true to who they were. The cohesive force that joined them, and allowed SG1 to survive deaths and ascensions just to keep working despite strong feelings and familiarity was being pushed to its limits.

He looked at them, Teal'c and Daniel tried to remain calm but the exchange was taking a toll, they would be needed to pick a side, and they weren't willing to do that, not yet. Not without knowing the whole situation. And then, there were Sam and Jack. George Hammond had known for ages now how strongly they felt about each other, those deep feelings rooted so profoundly that seemed that nothing could ever cut through it. And yet, this meeting was breaking them apart.

The precious platonic loving relationship of the military part of SG1 was under attack, and he had to do something to stop it. He looked at the Doctor, and he decided that there was only one situation that had a small chance of tipping the balance in their favor and break her. He doubted someone of her supposed age and experience was probably far from pouring her heart just because he was menacing her. However, he had seen fake gods crumble and cry for help once the threat of certain death was thrown into their dishes.

"I agree." General Hammond says finally breaking the staring contest Jack and Sam were having. They frowned looking at their CO. "I agree with Colonel O'Neill."

"Excuse me, sir? I don't believe I've heard right." Jack said.

"Then allow me to set the record straight. I believe you, Doctor Magnus. However, I must agree with Colonel O'Neill. You aren't telling us everything we need to know, and I warned you, Doctor." To Sam's surprise, Helen nodded in agreement. "Then, Colonel O'Neill escort Doctor Magnus to a cell and guard her until SCIU agents come searching for her."

"What?" Came from several points on the table. But the protest was quickly quenched when Helen raised her hand.

"General, I understand your position. However, I do need to request," Hammond raised his eyebrow expecting her to ask for a call to the President. "that you let my people return to where we came from."

"Mom!"

"Helen!" came from both Nikola and William, while Sam looked at her with widened eyes. She shook her head.

"There won't be an uprising trying to find me, at least not while I'm on your base." She smiled, looking at her team, it was an order for them. "We work to protect the innocent, General and I know you can relate to our cause. I need them to go back and keep saving them; I need them to return and delete me from our systems. Otherwise, if anything comes up, then Earth will remain safe. Our planet isn't ready for a new abnormal uprising as much as it isn't ready for an alien invasion."

"If that your final desire, Doctor." Hammond trailed.

"Wait, what?"

"Mom! You can't be serious!"

"It is, General."

"Then, Doctor Jackson, Teal'c please accompany the Sanctuary team back to where they came from. Take as many airmen as you need to help you."

"There won't be any need, General. My team will go peacefully."

"Mom, you can't ask that from us."

"Helen, your daughter is right, and you know just the two of us can take the SCIU scum quickly," Nikola added, and Ashley nodded.

"I know I shouldn't, but I am. No more murders." Hammond tried not to sigh; she would be tough to break.

"Helen…" Will started, but she smiled shaking her head no. And she glanced lovingly to her team, her family. And she rested her eyes on Sam for a bit longer than she was supposed to continue before looking to the rest of the present. However, Hammond had noticed it.

"You are ready to keep the Sanctuary alive, Will. You all have been ready for quite some time yet you all allowed me to keep the reigns. Just don't do anything dumb and support each other, everything will be okay. I'll be fine."

"No." Sam angered voice made them all turn towards her. "This is not okay, and I won't accept it, sir!"

"Major!" Hammond warned.

"Carter…" Jack pleaded if she continued on that path her career would end up on a stake. But George experience told him that if Helen didn't break, Sam was going to… It wasn't the best-case scenario yet he hoped it worked and saved whatever that was left of his best team.

"Colonel, I'm waiting for you to fulfill the order."

"Carter," Jack said once more, looking at her. She had tears in her eyes, and she noticed Jack wasn't very fond of fulfilling that order.

"Don't do this, sir." Sam pleaded. "You didn't allow it for Teal'c, or Apophis. You didn't even allow it for Ba'al, and you hate that arrogant bastard. Why would you accept this fate for her?" A tear escaped her eyes and Daniel moved closer to her, but she stood up and embraced her middle.

"Carter… you know me." Jack trailed, and Sam could see through the reflection on the glass that he was standing behind Helen, and strapping her hands on her back. "You know she is hiding something, Carter. Just ask her to let that go, and the moment she does, we won't have to do this."

"I can't."

"And I won't," Helen added sadly, "some things are worth more than my future."

"Mom," Ashley whispered, and something broke in Sam's heart.

"Come on, Carter. Just convince her to let it go and take this weight out of my shoulders."

"You can't give her to the SCIU, Jack." She said turning around and watching him from over Helen's shoulders.

"Give me a reason Sam," he pleaded. "Tell her to give us a reason."

"Please, Jack. What she's hiding doesn't have to do with the USAF or SGC….please."

"Sam…" He whispered.

"Colonel." Hammond intervened, and Jack started to move with Helen walking beside him. "Major, if you know something or know the wait to get it out of her, this is your last chance."

"Don't worry, Samantha. They'll get to me before SCIU can do anything to me." Helen smiled reassuring Sam.

But Carter looked around, Helen's eyes were still on her, the reason behind why she was being dragged to a cell. She avoided Helen's eyes and drifted her gaze towards Ashley, her sister had accepted what was going to happen. William and Henry had their eyes fixated on Helen's form, and they were both holding tears. And her father, he had his claws expanded, and he was doing his best to keep Helen's wishes… To keep Helen's promise to her.

Sam whimpered, she knew the weight of what was happening laid exclusively over her shoulders, over her own insecurities and her fears. The others accepted Helen's decision to keep her word to her daughter, and by extension, they had accepted her completely as part of a family she wasn't sure she was ever going to fit in. It could be so easily fixed.

"I'm sorry I asked this much from all of you," she whispered. "It means a lot more than you can imagine."

"Samantha, look at me," Magnus called. "There's no need for you to do it, I will survive as I always do."

"Yes, there's a need. You don't have to go through this because of me, mom." Sam added with a teary smile. And Helen left out a tear.

"Wait, what?" Daniel asked blinking quickly. Sam didn't dare to take her eyes out of her mother's afraid of what she might find in her friend's eyes.

"It's just that… The thing… That has been worrying you so much. The thing they have been hiding for you and that you believe affects you. Is that, and they have been keeping it to themselves because I asked them to." She licked her lips, and Ashley's hand found hers and gave her a reassurance press. Sam smiled at her sister.

"You can do it, sis," Ashley whispered. "If they can't have your back we always will." Sam nodded gratefully and raised her eyes to find her team.

"You'll see… I'm the biological daughter of Helen Magnus and Nikola Tesla. By embryonary age, Ashley is my older half-sister. I guess that makes Will my stepfather of sorts and Henry a little brother that I'm also willing to adopt into my family as they did. The fact is, they were protecting me, there was nothing else to hide but my truth. So, I'll plead to you, sir. Please, release the mother I'm getting to know."


	33. Chapter 33

Hi! I'm so sorry I left you waiting for so long! But life… (rolling eyes) When I finally had inspiration and time to write, I started and the next time. Bam! The worst flu ever! So, I'm finally able to sit in front of the computer without feeling sick immediately. Soooo, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't quite what you hoped, but my mucus-filled brain did the best it could.

Enjoy!

M.

 **Thirty-three**

"You'll see… I'm the biological daughter of Helen Magnus and Nikola Tesla. By embryonary age, Ashley is my older half-sister. I guess that makes Will my stepfather of sorts and Henry a little brother that I'm also willing to adopt into my family as they did. The fact is, they were protecting me, there was nothing else to hide but my truth. So, I'll plead to you, sir. Please, release the mother I'm getting to know."

"Wait… what?" Daniel was the first one to retrieve his speaking abilities.

"Seriously, boss?" Henry whispered loud enough for Helen to hear. He was after all the only one of her team who didn't know; she nodded his answer to him. And he grinned. "Cool"

"Sir?" Sam asked again seeing that Hammond was still too impressed by the news to do something about it. Jack looked at Hammond waiting for his orders.

"Colonel, I'm sorry I've put you in such position," Hammond told Jack. "Please, release Doctor Magnus."

"Sir?" Jack asked mostly due to the apology. Already freeing Magnus' hands.

"I will explain, Colonel. Major, I owe you an apology too." Helen turned around and looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I would say well played, General. But it was my daughter the one you put in such situation, and she trusted you." Her tone left not much to the imagination; it clearly stated that if he were to do it again, he wouldn't survive to apologize.

"What?" Sam asked looking at Helen.

"Major, Colonel. I will like you two to remain after this meeting." Hammond added.

"Am I the only one still trying to grasp the fact that you are their daughter?" Daniel asked pointed to both Helen and Nikola at the same time.

"Yes," Jack answered him.

"Wait, you understand this, Jack? Because of minutes ago, you were about to chew each other's heads out." Jack rubbed his face.

"No, yes… something like that."

"Seriously, that's the one?" Nikola asked Sam making her chuckle for the first time since the whole thing started.

"I guess we all need to give some more explanations?" Sam offered.

"It seems like it." Helen agreed with Sam getting back to her previous seat. Taking their lead, the others rearranged themselves around the table.

"Will you please?" Sam asked turning towards Nikola and Helen. They nodded.

"Wait, there's something I need to get out of my system," Daniel said, and everyone turned towards him. "If you they are your parents, you somehow are way older than we think or …" he trailed. Sam didn't raise her eyes to meet his, but searched the ones of her newly acquired family, finding nothing but the support she bit her lower lip and nodded once.

"I'm an abnormal, yes."

"Whoa… and … they never said anything about …" Daniel trailed.

"Perhaps it will be easier if we tell you how it happened?" Helen offered.

"I think we all have a pretty good idea of how that was, ma'am," Jack said. Nikola, Helen, Will, Ashley, and Sam laughed.

"Actually, it's not quite like you are imagining, Colonel. Samantha is the first ever in vitro embryo."

"She's also the first ever somewhat engineered human abnormal."

"That's not possible," Janet frowned. "The first in vitro baby was born in 78. Sam's from the 70. And we haven't reached such levels of technology. We couldn't possibly have an engineered anything at this point."

"And yet, there she is." Nikola grinned.

"You have no idea how much of the technology the regular people out there has thanks to something that came out of the Sanctuary," Will added, Jack, frowned. "But after several poor experiences with the different governments, they recognized that technology liberated too quickly could create chaos."

"You'll see…" Henry said, "we are great at creating things from scratch. I mean, he is THE Tesla and all. But there are many with minds similar to his, moving on different areas of expertise. Now, humans… Humans are excellent scientists. However, there's only one tiny issue… Somehow, you always manage to turn things towards war."

"And we can't risk it. Not again. Granted WWII was started by a very power starved abnormal, yet, Ashley's father got rid of him three years before it ended. And humans were the ones who kept it going."

"You mean…"

"Yes, he was an abnormal too." Helen nodded. "As most of the Presidents, we've got a chance to meet. It's a very exhausting job, and there's only a handful of humans who willingly go for it. Alas, we are digressing," she waved her hand in the air. "Samantha was created, and we took away from her the parts of the DNA that would allow her to change as Nikola and now Ashley can."

"So what is she?"

"We don't know for sure."

"You don't know?"

"No," Sam whispered.

"Yes, Doctor Frasier, if you are to compare her structure with mine, she would be an almost exact match. Samantha, as Nikola and I; has a rare DNA structure with four strands instead of the two you normally see. That's something that allows us to heal in an extremely fast way."

"Along with speed, strength and no aging."

"But Ashley doesn't?"

"No, her DNA is a double strand structure highly mutated. She's the fastest, and strongest of us. Yet, her body can still collapse on a death sleep out of injuries. While we don't."

"What the hell is this death sleep you've been talking about for ages now?" Janet asked.

"There's a pain threshold and an injuries threshold, that no human being and even most abnormals can't cross," Nikola explained. "If you get to your limits of pain management, your body collapses. There's such thing as too much pain, just like there can be too many injuries… for a double-stranded DNA that's it."

"We call a death sleep, to the moment we enter on an induced coma, or the moment when a double-stranded DNA with high healing speed collapses into a coma. The body uses this time out of sorts to start a regenerating process without needing to pay attention to other things that normally would take priority. Breathing returns to the lowest pattern, and the circulatory rhythm slows down to a point in which it seems we are completely out. Without having to worry about keeping a constant high rhythm, nor having the need of sending pain waves, the system reorganizes in a new pattern, and that's one for reconstitution. One doesn't wake up from a dead sleep if reconstitution isn't at least 90% done."

"It's scary as hell." Will added. "I've never seen that until a few months ago, it's like seeing a dead body. Their temperature lowers, the breathing is nearly not existing and finding a pulse is impossible unless you have an abnormal hearing range. It's a terrifying experience if you don't know what is going."

"I always knew you cared about me too, protégé," Nikola smirked.

"Actually, I was worried Helen would kill me for allowing you to die especially knowing that you are an immortal creature." Helen rolled her eyes.

"Getting back to your question, Doctor Frasier. When Samantha learned about her other skills, she wasn't in the right mind to develop them. Therefore, she still doesn't know her true limits, nor do we."

"Let me get something straight here, if you two are four-stranded and Sam is four stranded, and a Goa'uld isn't capable of surviving you two…. How was possible for Jolinar…" Daniel trailed noticing Sam's raised hand. "Oh, of course, you've already asked." He blushed.

"Yes. I did. And what she left behind will benefit me when I learned how to control it. She would've died in a very unpleasant way if she kept fighting against my body. She decided to let go, and everything was easier."

"The Naquadah in her blood is a byproduct; it will diminish in time. Nikola and I don't have it any longer. However, the protein marker you tested and found in our blood will remain with her."

"Jack, you are awfully quiet," Daniel commented after a while.

"He knows something, Doctor Jackson; I'm certain of that. Although, I'm yet to find out what could possibly be the thing he knows." Helen pointed crooking her head.

"Jack?"

"Colonel?" Sam frowned confused. Jack cleared his throat.

"Well, a while ago, we experienced for the first time the existence of alternate realities," Jack stared, and Sam's eyes widened.

"You always knew?"

"No, Carter. I didn't. I talked to the other you, and she told me something that got my attention, but then she had that cascade thing, and I forgot."

"Cascade?" Nikola and Helen asked at once.

"Entropic Cascade failure," Sam explained quickly, "as the result of existing in a timeline in which the same person already exists." They nodded. Jack clenched his jaw.

"It wasn't until I saw the two of you in the same room that I started to have dreams I couldn't remember. I knew they had to do with you, Carter. But not with you at the same time. I guess now it all makes sense." He shrugged.

"What does?" Sam asked confused.

"She… she told me that your mother," Jack sighed. "Her mother hadn't died in a car accident but that she had met her later. Back then I laughed, I didn't make sense, you'll know if your mother wasn't your mother, right?"

"Yeah, I didn't know around that time." Sam agreed.

"When the dreams started we already knew about how you ended up with the Carter's. I guess they found them earlier or something."

"How could that be? When?" Sam frowned. Nikola and Helen exchanged a quick glance.

"Many times, actually." Helen shook her head. "A few years back I was about to join the Stargate Program; they needed someone who could develop the level of technology that was needed for it to work. However, something came up, and I never made it. A young astrophysicist was placed in that position; it was a bonus that it was also someone from the Air Force."

"I replaced you," Sam whispered.

"And they thought you were me, and that's the reason I never knew about you from then."

"Then I contacted you through the network," Catherine added, And Helen nodded.

"What?" Hammond asked confused.

"Well, the project was on the go. The Captain who was placed on my position fulfilled the job tenfold. However, there was something the Captain couldn't provide," Helen trailed.

"An accurate translation of the writings, of course," Daniel completed, "and that's when you gave Catherine my resume." Helen nodded, and the rest frowned.

"You gave Catherine his resume?" Sam asked Helen. "Is that why you asked me about an archeologist back then?" She turned towards Catherine.

"Yes, as Helen stated. Most of us thought you were her for a long while until we realized you weren't. But since she knew about the person in that position, I thought it was dumb to mention how similar you look and it didn't help that those who knew you, knew of your need to reinvent yourself every once in a while." Catherine finished sadly, "If I only knew back then," she told Helen.

"As for my question, yes, I knew Daniel Jackson's parents. Daniel is one of my many godsons, but the Jacksons had one wish, and that was for him not to be dragged to the abnormal world if there was another chance. I was there soon after the accident, and I took care of him until his grandfather was located," Helen explained. "After that, I followed his career keeping myself out of the way and fulfilling his parents wish for as long as I could. However, when he published his book, and he fell in disgrace for his peers, I followed him closely."

"I often found my bills paid or money in pockets or something," Daniel remembered, and she nodded.

"It was a complicated task, but I had the means to manage. I was trying to plan a way to bring him to some project or excavation, something that would take him out of his situation when Catherine called me. I could've given her the translation that was on my expedition diary, or I could give her someone who could try for himself."

"And you gave us Daniel," Janet affirmed.

"Yes." Helen nodded to the Doctor. "But those weren't the only times. There's a policy for the SGC; I'm pretty sure General Hammond is aware of it. We are the last resource for this base."

"What?" Jack asked.

"Am I lying, General?"

"No, you are not. I have an executive order that says that in case of a disaster I should dial nine on the red phone and tell the Sanctuary to get ready for the worst." Hammond explained. "Until now I never knew what this Sanctuary was or why we were supposed to call them."

"It's quite simple, we are as you saw, more effective than humans for some tasks. And we share one world, we have an agreement with all the involved governments to protect this world at all costs which brings me to another time when we could've met. A couple of years ago with the abnormal uprising. The decision was between using the SGC who were trained to work with odd things or create one special task force."

"Oh, that's right," Nikola added. "SG1 was going to be sent to the camp to talk with the abnormal leaders. But something changed. And SCIU was created." He pointed. "And that time when I was working in that lab, remember?" Helen rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Yes, in Nevada. SG1 arrived for containment seconds before we left." Will added.

"And those are not counting the almost bumps in Prague," Jack added. "You were having breakfast, he found you." He pointed to Nikola, "and you walked right past our car. The moment you were out of sight, Sam entered the car."

"No wonder Mr. Borcky didn't stop asking about Ashley," Will added.

"Then I certain that a claim that reached me about my loud friends, wasn't about Nikola and Henry bickering like an old couple, wasn't?" Daniel blushed under Helen's eyes.

"Well, if it was related to a dispute on the restaurant, then no." Helen smiled.

"Colonel O'Neill, there's still something you haven't told us," Magnus added after a while.

"I took me a while, but I had remembered something from the dream about a Linchpin."

"A Linchpin?" Helen asked with a smile. "And pray tell what else you remember?"

"She told me I should Thank her mother, whenever we found her and let her know that James was right."

"James? He was right most of the time," Helen chuckled. "Did she specify?" Jack nodded and frowned.

"The Linchpin Theory," Nikola added with a frown, "that was why you were asking about something so odd for someone like you."

"Did she tell you what that Theory consisted? I never heard not even his hypothesis about it."

"You don't know?" Nikola asked surprised.

"No, he mentioned that I wasn't supposed to know. Or I would feel too overwhelmed by it. Should I start worrying?" Helen inquired looking at Nikola.

"As the Colonel, Henry and Samantha already know, James's linchpin theory proclaims that there's one person who is responsible for making decisions that alter the whole course of history." Helen raised an eyebrow, "not knowing their decisions affected the outcome; they could take them without feeling the weight of such feat."

"Ha, ha. Very funny, Nikola. Now, do tell, what this theory of his consisted of?" Nikola looked at her, "Oh, you aren't seriously saying that James, the most logical man I knew, believed I was the cause of the current state of the world. And if I am, I'm disappointed in myself."

"Well, yes. He thought you were a linchpin... and pray tell why you would be disappointed in yourself?"

"Have you seen the world outside?" She raised her eyebrow.

"Yes, it's a mess." She smirked. "However, before you start deflecting yourself, do remember how many countries walked away from those many non-senses wars you lived through, and how many people wouldn't be here at this point if it wasn't for you." She clenched her jaw.

"Oh, well. Let's not dwell." She told Nikola who nodded in understanding. "Colonel, thank you for remembering and letting me know."

"So, it's everything out there now?" Will asked looking around the table.

"Although I imagine there are many things you haven't disclosed, Doctor Magnus. You are all free to come and go as you please, provided that you announce when that would be to take the precautions to protect your identities."

"We appreciated it, General. We should leave as soon as possible; we have tasks to comply back home."

"Very well then, if there are no more questions."

"We shall start packing then." Helen nodded.

"Ah, Doctor. What about the things you mentioned you had to offer?"

"We will provide Doctor Frasier the list of medically related offerings. Along with a list of technological offerings to Doctor Carter. Doctor Jackson will get a secured connection to our library. Finally, Colonel O'Neill will get a detailed list of weapons we have to offer. Everything will be available as soon as we get back to the underground." Hammond nodded. "If that's all, General?"

"Yes, please. Let me know when you are ready to depart."

"We will."

"Colonel, Major," Hammond called them as the room got emptier. Both officers nodded and followed Hammond to his office. "First let me apologize once more for my behavior."

"Sir?" they both said at the same time.

"Don't pretend you didn't notice."

"Really, sir. I have no idea why you are apologizing." Sam told him.

"Well, your mother did, Major. I don't know how much Doctor Magnus knows of how you two work, but she noticed what I did."

"I'm not following you, General," Jack added Hammond sighed.

"Well, in all this time you've never come to this point. You were presented with many different situations and not even once your relationship took a hit, you two always managed to overcome whatever was thrown on your way." He raised his hand to stop them from talking. "I know you care about each other a lot more than you were supposed to, I know, I was there. Yet, today, that something unique you have was on the verge of breaking. I know you trusted Sam, Colonel. But something told you that she was keeping whatever she knew from you, and that was the thing bothering you. And Sam, I know you wanted him to trust in you simply, but which so much pressure it was nearly impossible, and you understood that."

"And I noticed," Hammond sighed. "I knew I had to use that to break you, Major. Because I'm sorry, but the only breakable link on the chain was you." Sam clenched her jaw and frowned. Then she exhaled slowly, letting the rage she just fell ebb away.

"You are right, General. I can't deceive any of you; I was the weak one in this situation. And I understand her menace to you know. Sir, permission to speak freely?"

"Granted Major."

"You do that again, and she will not be fast enough to complete her threat." Hammond nodded. "I do understand your position, sir. However, I took part in enough missions, and I've been under your command for long enough for you to know that I would've never held something that could affect the base or the lives of those involved in the project. And I hoped you respected me enough to give me the time I needed to accept the facts and tell you all the truth."

"Again, Major. I'm sorry."

"I won't lie to you, Sir. It hurts you didn't trust me, especially when I know how much you value my opinion in any other situations."

"I understand. Sam, Jack, I hope that at some point this comes to be water under the bridge. I know your relationship won't be affected by it. Dismissed." They saluted him; Jack turned around.

"Ah, sir. I wanted to ask you for a few days leave?"

"Major?"

"I want to know my limits, sir. And the only way for that to happen is to test them."

"I'll see what I can do, Major."

"Thanks, sir."

An hour later, there was a knock on Helen's room. Both Will and Magnus' frowned they weren't expecting anyone. He walked to the door and opened slightly only to be surprised by the person on the other side.

"Is she inside?" Jack's voice reached Helen.

"Yeah," Will said opening the door for him to come in. "Helen, I'll be in the cafeteria if you need me." He told her walking to her to place a quick kiss on her cheek before getting outside and asking one of the guards by the door to take him to the mess hall.

"Colonel O'Neill. To what do I owe this pleasure?" She asked walking to the table and inviting him to the seat. "It's not my desk, but it's the best I can currently offer." He opened his mouth several times, and she waited to see if something formed, but nothing did. "Let me guess; you aren't here to apologize, I would be unpleasantly surprised if you did."

"I don't think there's anything I need to apologize for," he answered

"Agreed, you did and acted in ways you thought necessary, and one never should apologize for protecting the loved ones. Which takes me to the next possibility, you are here because of the chance I mold her into something she wasn't before me." She squinted at him. He chuckled.

"We both know that hell would freeze over before you or anyone could mold her into something she doesn't want to be mold into."

"Touche." Helen acknowledged. They fell silent for a while longer, Helen had other options, but she wanted to give him time to arrange the words himself instead of tossing options that she knew weren't close to the real matter.

"You won't offer me a rope, right?"

"Oh, I could very well do that, Colonel. However, at this point, I'm afraid I would only give you enough for hang yourself instead of to help yourself." Helen pointed with a raised eyebrow.

"For crying out loud, don't do that!" He waved. "You look just too much like her when you do." Helen chuckled.

"Very well then, I'll try not to look like my daughter. So you can find the way to talk to me about her." He huffed.

"Why are you making this so complicated?"

"Am I?"

"Yes! No!...Crap!" he rubbed his face tiredly. "I don't get it, ma'am."

"What is that you don't get, Colonel?"

"You! I don't get you! I mean, I was nothing but an idiot since we met. I treated you poorly and offended your work and all the abnormals around you. Yet, you still cured me, and never batted an eye when I said or did something that could offend you."

"As I said before, Colonel. I have plenty of experience in many areas. Let me show you something that not many people has seen, and you might be able to understand better." She doubled the sleeve of her shirt and scraped her skin. "My cells retain this memory because I do. I don't allow myself to forget," she said and showed him the numbers that appeared on her arm. "I was a war prisoner too, not only for WWII on my second time around but in many others."

"You were in a concentration camp?" He frowned. She shrugged.

"As I said, there were things that simply made sense I did when I relived my life. Before having the chance to go back, I found a picture of myself in a camp. And I thought I was a fake one. It turns out; it wasn't. They found me, this me and they took me as one of their prized trophies. Which in turn allowed James, Nigel and I to move freely through France. So, you'll see. I've been a prisoner before, and I had plenty of information to give that I couldn't."

"And what that has to do with me?" he asked

"Well, I thought this would be enough, " she said scratching her skin again, and this time the numbers were replaced by white skin. "But I should know better, you and I are quite alike. And I know that first hand, Colonel."

"You were there…" He whispered.

"Yes, you were unconscious most of the time when they captured me. But we shared the same accommodations on that rotten jail in Iraq for the last two weeks; you were already in a complicated situation when they dragged us there. And in the two weeks after that, your condition only worsened."

"I remember someone talking to me, telling me I needed to drink, to keep holding."

"I don't like to lose patients, not even when there's nothing much, I can do to help them. But with the help of a local tribe, we organized the escape. I started the riot from inside, and they attacked from the outside. Soon, the jail was ours, I called James for supplies which he sent, and we left you and most of the prisoners once we noticed you would be able to survive."

"I owe my life to you." He whispered.

"No, you owe your life to yourself. I simply was passing through it at that point and helped in any way I could. As you might remember not all the prisoners survived." She pointed, and he nodded, remembering that he had managed to point the crew that found him to the place from where he escaped, but many were already long gone. " But again this is not why you are here."

"You are right, even if we are alike as you said. I'm not here for the past."

"Oh no, you are here from your future." She smiled. "Am I correct?" He analyzed her question and nodded.

"That's what I don't get, why knowing how I am, you keep pushing me towards her? Towards Samantha?"

"Don't you love her?"

"I do."

"Then why shouldn't I be pushing you to her?"

"I don't know; I might die? I am a human being? I'm an old man?" She chuckled.

"We all might die, even Nikola with the right means. Human or abnormal that doesn't make the slightest difference trust me I've been in love with both kinds. And if you are an old man, well, take it for someone ancient, love is not as easy to find. You shouldn't keep it at arm's length when it is doing everything in its hands to breach the space you've placed between it and you."

"But why? Why would you do this?"

"I love her; I loved her my whole life. Her whole life. I never thought I would get a chance to meet her, Colonel. Yet, here we are. And I can love her in ways I never considered I would. Trust me, after all, I've experienced there's nothing that I want more than my children's happiness. I don't care from who it comes as long as they know how beautiful is to be in love and be loved. And yes, I know I sound extremely corny. But that is the truth, Colonel. I've lost enough people and at the end, the only thing they leave you are the memories. Every one of us deserves to have memories with those we love the most, in the most fulfilling ways. So, I will keep pushing you to her, because she deserves to know how it feels like to wake up in the arms of the man she loves. As much as you deserve to know how waking up to find her in your arms feels like." Helen finished sincerely. Jack cleared his throat, he wasn't a man that displayed that much emotion, but he was struggling with the feelings her words brought to him.

"I would love to, ma'am. However, no matter how much you embellish it, at the end we are bound not to make it happen. There are rules and boundaries we can't cross."

"It's that all that's keeping you? I know she doesn't want to hurt your career and that's the reason why she isn't crossing them. But you? Why don't you?" Helen asked confused.

"I'm afraid that if I do, her whole career will end up being damaged. That if someone is to find that we crossed the line, they will assume we have always done it."

"And if these rules didn't apply to you?"

"Then I would've been here to ask you her hand. And of course, I would have to find a way to ask the same to Jacob."

"And then again you wonder why I'm pro Jack O'Neill." She chuckled. "Don't worry Colonel; everything will fall into place in due time. Now, will you please take me to the cafeteria? I'm starving, and my partner has been waiting for me there since you arrived."

"Sure." They walked to the cafeteria. They found Will and Daniel talking, when Daniel spotted them, he frowned.

"Doctor Magnus, Jack?"

"Doctor Jackson." Helen greeted him. "I'll go grab something to eat." She said, and Will stood up and walked with her. Daniel stared at Jack as if he had grown another head.

"What?" he asked, Daniel shook his head.

"What? You and Doctor Magnus and no animosity. It seems like being your possible mother in law did change things for your relationship with her." Daniel grinned.

"Daniel," Jack warned.

"Come on, Jack. It is the truth; you were about to kill all the … abnormals … " he whispered. "and hated her guts and now you are all but grabbing hands with her."

"I'm not grabbing hands. And I didn't hate them."

"Yeah, right."

"I didn't. " Jack sat and sighed.

"He didn't hate us," Ashley said making Jack jump.

"I hate when you do that," he added.

"Do what?"

"You know, your magic trick."

"I walked here Colonel," Ashley grinned. "Oh man, how do you even manage to go on missions together when talking about her leaves you so out of touch?"

"I'm not out of touch, whatever you mean with that." Ashley raised her eyebrow. "What is it with you women and that eyebrow?"

"Well, I mean, you didn't hear me come. You should've. Being sneaked upon is a very bad tactic."

"Great, now I'm receiving military advice from a kid."

"This kid has rocking techniques if you must know," she grinned turning a chair around and sitting on it. "Let me tell you, Doctor, the Colonel was only pulling up a brave angry upfront because he was scared mom would take Sam away from him."

"There's that and the likeness," Helen added seating beside Daniel. "He probably figured we were related somehow and thought that I ended as the lucky family member who won the money lottery or something."

"And the fact that he distrusted your youth," Will pointed.

"Well, you distrusted 'my youth' before," Helen smiled.

"I didn't! I thought you were out of your mind which is completely different."

"The point is, we did have a rocky start. It is like that for most humans or unknowing abnormals. And distrusting my 'age' is something pretty common, that's why we had to come up with the makeup in the first place."

"Everyone has a nice point; it doesn't take one thing out of you, Jack."

"What?"

"You still must talk with Sam, and explain things to her." Not quite knowing what to say, Jack simply nodded.


End file.
